Harry Potter and the Magic Lamp
by Whitney Rose
Summary: When Fred and George find a way to get around the spell surrounding Hogwarts during the summer, should they do it? Something could go terribly wrong... and it does.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I wish I did, but I also wish Orlando Bloom was my boyfriend...  
  
Author's Note (4-19): Don't mind typos throughout this entire thing... I'm usually typing and doing other things at the same time. Just a note, most of the better written parts of this story is written by Anna... and Beth didn't start writing the story later, so you won't see her parts until later.  
  
PROLOUGE (From Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix... which means I didn't write this.)  
  
"We'll see you soon, mate," said Ron anxiously, shaking Harry's hand. "Really soon, Harry," said Hermione earnestly. "We promise." Harry nodded. He somehow could not find words to tell them what it meant to him, to see them all ranged there, on his side. Instead he smiled, raised a hand in farewell, turned around, and led the way out of the station toward the sunlit street, with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley hurrying along in his wake.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: Yeah, that was short. But it's a nice little prologue leading into the story... Reviews are great *nudge nudge* 


	2. The Surprise Visit

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, plain and simple.  
  
A/N (4-15): Yeah, it's the same day... I couldn't just stop after the prologue! But I'll stop after this, so I can thank people that leave reviews at the end of the chapter. And I want to make you wait! *cackles*  
  
CHAPTER 1: The Surprise Visit  
  
(Anna) Harry had not seen his friends since then, though he now wrote and received regular letters, remembering what Moody had said about writing every three days. Hedwig was busy, heading back and forth, to Grimmauld Place, Number 4 Privet Drive, the Burrow, Hermione's house, and back to Privet Drive again.  
Despite what his friends had said about seeing him soon, Harry found himself still cooped up in Privet Drive on a windy, blustery Sunday in the middle of June.  
As he sat reading the Daily Prophet, which he still had not forgiven for letting Fudge push it into keeping quiet about Voldemort's return, though he read for the defensive spells that came up every few days, he heard a thump and an "Aaaaagh!" from his uncle downstairs and decided to see what all the fuss was about.  
Downstairs he discovered Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George all piled in a heap on the living room floor in front of the fire place. His uncle Vernon had jumped up on a couch and was turning and lovely shade of pink.  
"Hey, Harry," said Ron from the bottom of the pile.  
Fred and George stood. "Thought we'd pay you a visit, old chap," said Fred.  
"Yes, absolutely spiffing to see you... by the way..." said George.  
"Is Dudley around?" Said Fred, and the twins cracked their familiar, identical evil grins.  
"Well, I don't think we should let you two anywhere near Harry's cousin," said Hermione.  
"Besides, it's Harry we want to see," finished Ron, grinning.  
Harry grinned too, but Uncle Vernon let out a squeak.  
"Wha... what do you mean, boy, bringing these... well... why are they here?"  
"They're my friends coming to visit."  
Uncle Vernon now turned a vivid scarlet, but didn't argue, perhaps remembering Moody's threats and large, round, electric blue eye.  
"C'mon up to my room," said Harry.  
They tramped upstairs. "Great to see you, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George!" said Harry, beaming. "How'd you manage it?"  
"It was really Fred and George that did it, they arranged for Mum and Dad to be out while we used some floo powder to get here," said Ron.  
"Thanks, Fred and George," said Harry. "So why'd you decide to come along?"  
"Oh, c'mon Harry, we can't even visit our little bro's best mate?"  
"Of course, there might have been other reasons..."  
"You two," Sighed Hermione, "I should have guessed you were up to something. Well, make it quick," she said, checking her watch, a magical time piece that didn't need setting." I need to get back by noon, because my parents will pick me up at one, and if they're early and find the Burrow empty..."  
"Relax, Hermione, we've got nearly three hours," said Ron, "No one's going to catch us."  
"Aah... so sure of that, are we, Ickle Prefect?" asked George in a Peeves-like voice.  
"Shut up," was all Ron said.  
"So, Harry," said Fred, "We appreciated you funding our joke shop..."  
"And we're going to let you in on our little scheme," said George.  
"Ta-da!" they chorused and George whipped out an old, rusty...  
"Lamp," said Hermione skeptically, "A magic lamp for a genie to come out of?" she snorted.  
"Aah, Hermione, don't take that tone with us or you might not get to come," said Fred.  
"Where?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.  
"To a place no good ickle student has ever gone," said George.  
"Hogwarts in the summer," said Fred.  
"You see, with some experimentation, we come up with a spell that will bypass the usual one around Hogwarts in the summer, preventing people from getting in."  
Hermione asked excitedly, "Have you read Hogwarts, a History, too?"  
"Nah, we have this information from..."  
"...Previous adventures," finished Fred, "Anyway, even though we never actually tried it, we know for sure this lamp will do its job."  
"It's a portkey, and at 9:30 a.m. today..."  
"Anyone who's touching it will go straight to Hogwarts," said Fred.  
Harry grinned and reached out to touch the lamp, along with Ron.  
"Harry, Ron, I can't believe you're doing this," said Hermione, "It could be dangerous!"  
"That's why you've got to come along in case anything goes wrong," said Ron.  
Hermione made a disgusted noise and laid a finger on the lamp. Her watched ticked 9:28, 9:29...  
A familiar tugging sensation as if a hook was behind his navel pulled at Harry as he, Ron, Fred, Hermione, and George whirled... and stopped.  
"Hey, this is the Room of Requirement!" exclaimed Ron.  
"All right," said Hermione, "We've got..." she looked at her watch, then froze. Harry looked at the watch, then Ron, then Fred and George.  
"Ahem... that can sometimes happen," said Fred.  
"We bypassed it, but by going back in time," said George. "Way back." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ A/N: Yeah... I didn't write any of this. Anna did. Bloody brilliant, I might add. She's a very talented writer. Well, leave some reviews! 


	3. Gudgeon's Gamble

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Harry Potter... I like to pretend that I own them, but that's not going to change anything.  
  
A/N (4-15): I'm typing this today... What to say, what to say... *looks around* Bother! *giggles* If you're ever bored, go to www.potterpuppetpals.com , tis quite funny! Ah... I'm talkin' like a pirate again. Another thing... *snorts* Things... September 19th is Talk like a Pirate day! Jus' lettin' ye know...  
  
CHAPTER 2- Gudgeon's Gamble  
  
(Whitney. Hey, that's me!)  
"So what do we do now?" Hermione said, glaring at Fred and George.  
"Couldn't tell you," Fred said, shrugging his shoulders.  
Harry looked around, and then said, "Let's at least have a look around the castle." He walked over and opened the door. Fred, George, and Ron follows, but Hermione stayed put.  
"C'mon, Hermione..." Ron said.  
"I don't know..." Hermione said anxiously, "I mean what if we accidentally change the future?"  
"We'll just be extra careful," George assured her.  
"Fine..." said Hermione, following them. They walked down the halls, looking around.  
"It looks the same, but the Whomping Wi-"Harry began, but was cut off by someone shouting, "Prongs! What are you doing?  
Harry wheeled around and saw a sixteen-year-old boy with long black hair that casually fell over his eyes. "Sirius?" Harry managed to say.  
"Yeah... James, you feeling okay?" Sirius asked, walking closer. "Wait a minute... you're not James..." He said.  
"No, I'm-"Harry started to say, but he was cut off yet again. But this time it was Hermione that had stopped him.  
"Harry! I don't think we should tell him anything yet... We can't change the future!" whispered Hermione.  
"We're not going to change the future... He doesn't even know us yet!" Harry replied angrily.  
Sirius watched them, a look of confusion on his face. "Are you sure you're not related to James Potter?" He asked curiously.  
"Er... I'm related to him... sort of." Harry said, "C'mon, we won't see him when we go back-"But Harry was cut off another time. (A/N: *sobs*) "Hey! Come with me... James has to see this!" Sirius said, grabbing Harry's arm and pulling him along the corridors. Harry looked back at the others, who then followed. Sirius paid no attention, but shouted, "James! Where are you?" They walked down the corridors for a while, but finally, they stopped. Sirius looked to Harry and said, "Well, I don't know where James is. He must be off, having fun with Snivellus..." He trailed off, looking around hopefully. After a minute of just standing there, a door opened and another sixteen-year-old boy walked out. He had untidy, jet black hair that would never achieve the glamour of Sirius' hair and hazel eyes. (Heh, I modified a couple things... oh well. I wrote it. This, however, I did not write... Anna)  
"Padfoot, I've been looking all over for you! Gudgeon's gonna fly a broom to the top of the North Tower, then drop it and try to jump back on it again!"  
"Brilliant! Let's go," said Sirius.  
"James asked "So who's your new friends?  
"You don't know them?"  
"No, I thought they were with you," said James.  
They both turned to look at Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred, and George. "Aaaaah..." said Harry "I'm a... sort of... distant cousin of James's, and, um, This is Ron, my friend, Hermione, another friend..."  
"Hey!" Harry was interrupted yet again. This time it was by Fred.  
"Padfoot and Prongs?" asked George.  
"As in Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs?"  
"As in 'Aides to Magical Mischief Makers?"  
"As in The Marauders' Map?" Finished Fred, looking awed.  
"Hey, Prongs, I thought no one else know about it," said Sirius.  
"They don't," said James.  
"How'd you find out?" Sirius asked Fred.  
"Well, we took it from Filch," said George.  
"I always wanted to meet, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, but..."  
"Never thought it was you, Sirius, or Harry's dad..."  
"Who's Harry?" asked James, at the same time Hermione said "George!"  
"Who's George?" asked Sirius.  
"I'm George, that's Fred, and this is Harry," Said George.  
"So who's..." started Sirius, and then his eyes went wide. "Oh!"  
"GEORGE, YOU'VE WRECKED THE WHOLE-"  
"Aaw, Hermione, where's your sense of fun?" said Fred.  
"Prongs, he's not your distant cousin, he's-"  
"FIVE MINUTES, FIVE MINUTES INTO THIS AND ALREADY YOU'VE-"  
"But I'm only sixteen, he can't be my son unless-"  
"We came back in time-"began Fred.  
"FRED DON'T YOU REALIZE YOU ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYING THE-"  
"Brilliant!" said James, "This is more exciting than Gudgeon breaking his neck any day-"  
"AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO RECOGNIZES THE REPERCUSSIONS OF-"  
"So where are you gonna stay?" asked Sirius.  
"You've gotta stay and tell us-"  
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL THEM ANYTHING-"  
"Shh, Hermione, someone's coming," said Ron.  
"Well, they've already-"began Hermione.  
"It's Filch!" hissed James, having whipped out a piece of parchment once Ron spoke.  
"In here!" said Fred and they all ducked back into the Room of Requirement.  
"Funny..." said Sirius once Filch had passed, who was looking around in every corner for who had been yelling. "This room isn't on our map..."  
"...we'll have to add it," said James, "What, is it only on Saturdays or.."  
"It's only if you need it," said Harry, speaking up.  
"So, you're from the future... I'll have to tell-"Sirius was cut off by Hermione.  
"No, it's bad enough without everyone else-"she began.  
"Everyone else? Wouldn't dream of it... just Moony and Wormtail."  
"You didn't seem so enthusiastic about hiding before..."  
"Hiding? Nah... This'll be fun, but we can't let the teachers know..." he broke off.  
James and Harry were staring at each other.  
"Well... um... hi Dad?" Harry said hesitantly. There was an awkward silence.  
Ron, perhaps sensing Harry's discomfort, started up the conversation with "So... who's Gudgeon?"  
James answered, glad for the change in topic. "Davey Gudgeon always does stupid, impressive things."  
"I think Gladys Gudgeon, his big sister, puts him up to it," said Sirius. "Anyway, she's the one who spreads the word when he's gonna do something."  
"But never to Jorkins. She'd go to Dumbledore in a heart beat."  
"D'you wanna come?" asked Sirius, "It'll be funny."  
"Only we have to tell Moony and Wormtail..." started James.  
"Nah, by now Gladys Gudgeon will have caught up to them. They'll already be there," said Sirius.  
"We have to tell them about these guys in the first place, so we might as well go," said Sirius.  
"Ok," said the twins immediately and in unison.  
"Well, all right, then," said Ron, "Coming Harry?"  
"Yeah, I'd like to see this, too," said Harry.  
"Oh, I can't belive you," sighed Hermione. "I don't' find this at all amusing and I am going straight to the library, to try to figure out to the grounds, to try to figure out how to get back." She marched off.  
"Being a bit uptight, isn't she?" asked James.  
"Sometimes she's worse," said Ron as the six of them headed out to the grounds, where they could see the North Tower properly.  
There was already a small crowd forming, and at the center was a sandy-haired boy with a daredevil glint in his eye, and someone Harry assumed must be Gladys Gudgeon, his big sister.  
Sirius and James edged around the crowd, the stopped by two boys on the left side. Harry, Ron, Fred, and George followed.  
Harry grinned, recognizing the taller boy as a young Remus Lupin, who had taught Defense Against the Dark Arts in Harry's third year at Hogwarts.  
"Blimey..." Fred whispered. "Isn't that bloke Lupin?"  
"Yeah," answered Harry. "Moony was his nickname at school."  
"How did you know that?" asked George, "All this time we ewre wondering who made the Marauders' Map, and we were talking to thme! Is the other one Wormtail?"  
Harry hesitated. "Yeah, but..." he faltered. "He works for Voldemort now."  
"The twins flinched. "Blimey..." "Didn't know..."  
"Harry!" James called. "Are you coming?"  
"Yeah." Harry, Ron, Fred, and George walked over.  
"We've told them, "said Sirius. Harry could tell. Lupin and Pettigrew were looking at him very strangely indeed.  
Then there was a loud voice. Harry whirled, then saw it was coming from Gladys Gudgeon.  
"AAAND NOW... MY KID BROTHER... DAVEY GUDGEON!"  
The sandy-haired boy leaped on a broomstick and took off toward the North Tower. Davey Gudgeon was not good on a broomstick. It swerved and narrowly missed turrets as Davey struggled to control it. Finallyk, Davey landed on the roof of the North Tower. He stood up with difficulty, wobbling on the sloped roof. He grabbed onto an outcropping, and flung the broomstick. Being magical, it only went down about ten feet.  
Davey edged toward the side of the roof, and the crowd let out a collective gasp as Davey Gudgeon jumped for the floating broomstick... (And Beth comes in!)  
...and he missed the broomstick by inches.  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DONG?" Yelled Professor McGonagall. "Hurry, hide behind us. Quick!" said Lupin. "TEN POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR!" shouted McGonagall. "AND ALL OF YOU! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, LETTING HIM DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"  
"Come on..." whispered Sirius. He led them to the lake. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Yeah... it kind of just stops... There was no definite stopping point for the chapter as it was written, so I just picked a spot. And I want to get this chapter done! *giggles* Cookies for all reviewers! I would have said runzas, but not everyone knows what runzas are...  
  
Erica- Thanks! Isn't the prologue the greatest? *giggles* And Anna really is a very good writer... I will definitely tell her what you said! And thank you again! Being compared to J.K. Rowling... well, Anna is, at least. *giggles*  
  
Megan- Thank'ee! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! 


	4. The Society for the Promotion of Elfish ...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter. No matter how much I may say I do, I don't.  
  
A/N (4/20): *giggles* I think I wrote down the wrong day for one of my author notes... tis so hard to keep track of the days! We got first place at our track meet today! I didn't do too well, but I got personal bests, which is rather sad. Maybe I should do running... Nah, too much, well... running!  
  
CHAPTER 3: Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare (Beth)  
"So, tell us about the future!" said James.  
"Well, I don't know if you will like it that much because..."  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? AND WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?" demanded McGonagall, storming over to them. (I modified that last bit... couldn't really understand what you wrote, Beth... if you ever read this. Anywho, ME! I'm Whitney, if you don't remember...)  
James looked at McGonagall and said in a cool voice, "Oh, this is Harry, and that's... er... What are your names again?"  
Ron promptly said, "I'm Ron, and this is Fred and George," He gestured toward the twins.  
"And what are you doing here?" McGonagall said in a steely voice, eyeing them closely.  
"We're just... visiting. I'm James' cousin..." Harry said, thinking quickly. Fred and George looked at Harry in awe.  
"Is that so? You're supposed to send an owl to the headmaster. Oh well, I hope you enjoy your stay." McGonagall said, briskly walking back to Davey.  
"That was a close one... good thinking, Harry!" said Sirius, smiling and laughing his bark-like laugh. (The most awesomest writer... Anna!)  
"Thanks!" he said, and meant it. He'd missed Sirius... (*sobs*)  
"I can't believe McGonagall went for that!" said James.  
"Yeah," said Ron fervently, "I thought we'd had it for sure."  
"Well, she did," said Remus. "Personally, though, I think it was good she saw Gudgeon. One of these days he's going to injure himself."  
"Aww, Moony, you're spoiling all the fun," said James. They reached the bare spot on the wall that hid the Room of Requirement. Opposite, Barnabas the Barmy was trying to put a pink tutu on a particularly lumpy troll, who seemed to be stunned.  
"See you," said Sirius, "We've got plans to make!"  
"What sort of plans?" George asked eagerly.  
"Bye!" Said James, and he, Sirius, Remus, and Pettigrew walked away.  
"What do you think he meant plans?" asked Fred.  
"I want to spend more time with those blokes, I always wanted to meet Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, ever since we got the Marauders' Map," said George.  
"Well, you're likely to have all the time you want, I don't think I'll find anyway to go back soon," said Hermione, who had walked up behind Harry so quietly he jumped at her voice.  
"But guess what?" she asked, "This girl walked up to me in the library, and of course I couldn't tell her what I was really doing, so I said I was working on S.P.E.W. research, and I explained what that was, and she seemed really interested! I brought my S.P.E.W. notebook with me, I always do incase someone's interested, and she paid two Sickles and signed up right away, and even wore the badge..."  
Harry, Ron, Fred and George exchanged uncomfortable looks.  
Hermione didn't notice though, she was so excited.  
"I mean no one really seemed interested in S.P.E.W., not seriously, but she did! Here, look..." At the bottom of a short list was a signature:  
Lily Evans  
Harry gasped. "But, but... that's my mum!"  
(Hey, it's me again! Woo hoo!)  
Hermione stared at Harry. "What?!" she exclaimed.  
Fred grinned. "And you told us not to change the future..."  
"This isn't good... But... maybe... Yes. It should work." Hermione said, walking off.  
Ron watched Hermione walk away. "Thanks for clearing that up, Hermione," he said sarcastically.  
Fred and George smiled to each other, and then Fred said, "Well, now that she's gone..."  
"Let's go have another look around!" George finished for his twin.  
"Yeah, that sounds good," said Harry.  
The four of them walked down the corridors. As they were walking, they heard footsteps. Harry turned around to see his future potions master, Severus Snape. He was breathing hard and looking quite livid. (More improvising...)  
"This is for what you did to me, Potter!" Snape growled through clenched teeth. He pulled out his wand and shouted, "Rictusempra!" the tickling curse. Harry doubled over in laughter.  
(AAAAAAND ANNA!)  
The Weasley twins looked at each other. "Very... original," said Fred.  
"If he was trying for revenge, couldn't he have done something worse?" asked George.  
The three Weasleys pulled out their wands.  
But Snape was already gone. "Where do you reckon he went?" asked Ron.  
"Probably figured he couldn't take on the three of us," said George. "Anyway, Finite Incantatem."  
Harry didn't stop laughing.  
"Finite Incantatem," George repeated this time enunciating.  
Harry laughed harder. "What's going on?" asked Ron, "He should have stopped laughing."  
"Maybe if we tried it all together. On three, then. One... two... three!" "FINITE INCATATEM!" The Weasleys roared in unison.  
Harry was still laughing, and began to roll on the floor, clutching his sides and kicking his feet, laughing harder and harder.  
"Don't worry, mate, we'll help you out of this," said Ron, "Maybe Hermione knows how to help him."  
Ron and Fred each grabbed on of Harry's arms and hoisted him up. As they dragged him around the corner toward the library, they saw Snape.  
"What's so funny, Potter?" he sneered, "By now you must have figured out you can't take it off him. He'll just keep on laughing. Kind of hard to sneak around when you're laughing. I'll find out what you're up to, Potter, and when I do..." with a swish of his oily hair he was gone.  
"Wanted to hex him," George muttered, "But the slimy git'd get another of us, and we can't carry two."  
With great difficulty they managed to get Harry into the library. Watching out for Madam Pince, who would deject them in a minute because Harry was laughing so loudly, they searched for Hermione.  
They found her chatting away animatedly with a pretty red head girl with startlingly green eyes... Harry's eyes...  
They looked up immediately at the sound of Harry's laughter. "Hermione," Ron grunted, "Nape got him. HE did something weird with a tickling charm..."  
"Oh, that," said Lily, "I'll put Potter right, not that he deserves it... Finite Rictusempra."  
Harry stopped laughing. "Thanks M... L... Evans," he said.  
  
"What was that all about?" asked Ron. "Why'd she go away?" Harry had never told them what he had seen in the Pensieve.  
"Well, my mum and dad... weren't on the best of terms until about seventh year," Harry said.  
"Oh," said Ron. "Er," he said, casting around for a new subject. "What did Snape mean, what we're up to?"  
"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione, and they filled her in on what Snape had said. "So Snape thinks we're up to something... interesting."  
They were headed back to the Room of Requirement. "It's late, and we should be getting to bed," said Hermione.  
"Hermione," said Ron.  
"We finally don't have to follow any rules and you're worried about bed time?" asked Fred incredulously.  
"Honestly, I thought we had more of a good influence on her," said Fred.  
"Well, then stay up if you want, but we'll get in trouble if we're caught in the corridors this late. We should stay in the Room of Requirement 'til morning," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I'm going to bed, so I can cheer on Gryffindor tomorrow in its Quidditch match against Slytherin."  
"Quidditch?!" exclaimed Fred.  
'Tomorrow?!" Enthused George.  
"I'm in," said Harry.  
"Me too," said Ron as they arrived at the Room of Requirement. When they went in, it had four posters just like those in the Gryffindor dormitory, and clean robs and pajamas and its own bathroom behind a door in the back.  
"I just realized, we haven't eaten anything since breakfast," said Hermione.  
Immediately sandwiches appeared on a spindle-legged table in the middle of the room. "Good service!" said Ron, and they sat down on the newly appeared chairs to eat.  
Afterward, they all climbed into their pajamas, which were exactly the right size, and snuggled into bed.  
Harry stared at the ceiling for a long time before going to sleep. He'd never thought he'd get to see his father play Quidditch. He'd see for himself tomorrow if James was as good as everyone in his own time said he was.  
Harry couldn't wait, there was so much to do in this place, he wanted to get up and roam around, or perhaps he'd find James and ask if he could join in the Quidditch practices...  
With flying fantasies in his head, and thinking he wouldn't sleep at all tonight, Harry slowly dropped off into a deep and contented sleep.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *sigh* only one review... Ah well.  
  
Erica- Thanks! Your encouragement is great to hear... or, well, see... *giggles* you can have... 4 cookies, as I have a surplus of them, and because you were my only reviewer for my last chapter! And I told Anna what you said... she wasn't really into the idea of putting our story on the internet, but now she's all for it! *giggles some more* 


	5. The Quidditch Match

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter. I don't own a magic lamp, either.  
  
A/N (4/20): What to say today... not much happening. It's raining... that's about it.  
  
CHAPTER 4: The Quidditch Match (Whitney)  
The next day Harry woke fully refreshed. He dressed in the new robes the Room of Requirement had provided for him. Ron and Hermione were already awake. Fred and George were dressing, also. They ate breakfast and headed toward the Quidditch pitch.  
It was a bright, sunny day, prefect for Quidditch. There was a slight breeze, but that wouldn't really matter. They took their seats with the other Gryffindors.  
The announcer announced the players. "-AAAAND THE GRYFFINDOR SEEKER... JAMES POTTER!" The crowd roared as he flew onto the pitch. Harry watched him. He was very good, indeed. (Anna Banana *giggles*)  
Harry's eyes followed James as he swerved and dodged around the Quidditch pitch, around the other players, then up above, looking around for the Snitch.  
"AND GRYFFINDOR CHASER ENLIL WITH THE QUAFFLE PASSES TO TURNER... STOLEN BY SLYTHERIN CHASER DURRON, NEW FIND THIS YEAR BY CAPTAIN BARCLAY OF SLYTHREING, LOOK AT THAT KID GO! OH, BULDGER THERE AND HE'S DROPPED THE QUAFFLE, CAUGHT BY WHEELER OF GRY-"  
Harry looked around to see the announcer, expecting to see someone like Lee Jordan, but the megaphone was floating around on its own, apparently making its own announcements.  
"FUMBLES AND IT'S CAUGHT BY SCARMORY OF SLYTHERIN..."  
"Who's commentating?" Harry asked Hermione quietly, "I thought there had to be a commentator, but the megaphone's just floating..."  
"Shh, I don't know, but I want to watch this."  
Someone tapped Harry's shoulder. "That's Robert... Robert T. Orange... he's invisible, but he doesn't talk about why." It was Sirius. He was sitting just behind Harry, next to Peter Pettigrew, and his eyes were now following James as he circled above the game.  
Harry watched James too, but something caught his eye. One of the Slytherin players was diving... diving toward a speck of gold...  
"AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIAFLI'S SEEN THE SNITCH, BUT HERE COMES POTTER..."  
James swerved in and out of the chasers, beaters, quaffle, and bludgers, gaining on Thialfi all the time. He was good, very good, Harry thought, even better than Krum!  
Then James and Thialfi were even, and in a few moments...  
"POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! THE WIN GOES TO GRYFFINDOR, 160 POINTS TO THIRTY..."  
"YEAH!" yelled Sirius. Pettigrew jumped up and down, Hermione was clapping hard, Ron was grinning ear to ear, Fred and George, however, were looking around and didn't seem to have noticed Gryffindor had won.  
"Has anyone seen Lupin?" asked Fred.  
"No, now that you mention it, I haven't seen him since yesterday," said Harry.  
Sirius noticed what they were talking about. "His mum's sick. He had to go home and see her."  
Harry realized Lupin was probably in the Shrieking Shack. It must be the full moon, he realized, and Sirius is covering up for him.  
"Oh," said George, not looking convinced.  
"Er... let's catch up to James, shall we?" said Sirius quickly, and slipped between two burly 7th years toward the Quidditch pitch.  
The rest of them edged along after him, finally catching up with him and James on the edge of the pitch.  
"Shh..." he snuck off, Sirius by his side, Pettigrew tiptoeing along behind them. Wondering what was up, Harry followed, Ron, Fred, Hermione, and George in his wake.  
They weren't with the crowd; they were splitting off, heading towards the lake. They were following a small boy in green Quidditch robes- the Slytherin seeker.  
"Oi! Thialfi!" called James. Thialfi turned. He was quite short, even smaller than Harry, though he was probably only a second or third year.  
"Did you really think you could catch the Snitch? Competing against me?"  
"I could've, you've got a faster broom!" Thialfi said defiantly, though James towered over him.  
"Now, none of your little cheek, little one, or I'll have to teach you a lesson," said James in a patronizing and quite annoying tone.  
"Shut up!" yelled Thialfi.  
"I've warned you, Thialfi, no you get it!" James raised his wand and waved it and roared... (Beth... no, that's not what he roars!)  
"Colo..."  
"Expelliarmus!" cried Thialfi. (Now for Whitney)  
James' wand flew out of his hand. (And back to Beth!)  
Sirius jumped up in the air and caught James' wand. "Now you're going to get it!" yelled Sirius. "No, no, he's only a second year," pleaded Hermione.  
"I'm a fourth year, I say! A FOURTH YEAR!" said Thialfi furiously. "You stupid girl, I am a fourth year. I have more brains than you'll ever have!"  
Ron looked furiously at Thialfi. "How dare you! She is the smartest fifth year- wait... sixth year. You little slime ball! EAT SLUGS!" Ron yelled. Thialfi started belching up slugs. Ron's ears turned bright red. Harry had never seen his ears turn redder. They all stood staring at Ron. (The Whitney...)  
"Ron!" Hermione shouted. "Good job! Now we're going to be in trouble!" She rolled her eyes sarcastically.  
James, however, smiled. "Nice one! Oh, look who it is..." he said as Lily Evans walked up to them.  
"Potter! Why'd you attack him?" She shouted convinced that James had attacked Thialfi, who was burping up more slugs.  
"That wasn't me, Evans! Honest..." James said, though he was still smiling. Ron looked at the ground, looking rather uncomfortable. (The bloody brilliant one... Anna)  
"Oh, I bet you think it's funny, attacking a little second year!" Lily scoffed.  
"I'm a fourth year!" exclaimed Thialfi in the same scandalized tone as James, who cried at the same time.  
"I told you I didn't!"  
"Really? Prove it," said Lily to James.  
Ron mumbled almost inaudibly. "What?" asked Lily kindly, "Did he get you, too?"  
"No, I cursed Thialfi..." said Ron, is voice stronger this time.  
"Told you," said James.  
"Oh," said Lily, now she looked embarrassed.  
"We should get Thialfi to Hagrid's," Harry, who had been hanging back up until now, spoke up.  
"No, I'm fi-"Thiafli sprayed the ground with slugs.  
"You're not fine and you're going to Hagrid's," she said and slipping her arm around him, she helped him along.  
Harry looked at the others, uncertain if they should follow. Then he saw James was shaking with rage. "I'm gonna kill that little pipsqueak." He growled through gritted teeth.  
"Whoa, cool it, Prongs." Said Sirius. "She's just helping him get to Hagrid's, she doesn't like him or anything, I mean, he's just a little second year. She feels sorry for him."  
"You're right," said James. "I have no competition from someone like him, I mean, I'm older and smarter and cooler and more popular and better at Quidditch."  
"Yeah, Prongs," squeaked Pettigrew excitedly, "You're the best at Quidditch!"  
"I know," said James flippantly, messing up his hair.  
"What?!" he asked, for the twins had been sniggering behind his back.  
"Thialfi burping up slugs." Said Fred immediately and unembarrassed, though Harry was sure that was a lie.  
"Yeah, that is funny," James grinned. "How d'you do that, anyway?" he asked Ron.  
"We should try that on Snape," said Sirius.  
Ron, however, was still feeling guilty for having cursed a little kid.  
"Later," said Harry, noticing.  
"But it's," began James.  
Harry quickly changed the subject. "Did you know I'm also the Gryffindor Seeker?"  
"Really? What broom have you got?" asked James excitedly.  
"A Firebolt, but it's not invented yet," said Harry.  
"I have a Silver Arrow." Said James.  
"Harry, did you ever find out who sent the Firebolt?" asked Fred.  
James and Sirius looked at him quizzically, and Pettigrew said, "Huh?"  
"I got the Firebolt anonymously from a few Christmases back," explained Harry. "It was Sirius," he told Fred and George. "Sirius sent me the Firebolt."  
"Me?" asked Sirius, "Cool!"  
"Will you stop?" hissed Hermione, "Telling them about the future?"  
"Right, sorry," said Harry.  
"But that takes all the fun out of this!" complained George.  
"Yeah," said Sirius.  
"We can do other things for fun," said Ron.  
"Yeah," said Fred, "You can go to the library, Hermione..."  
"...and we'll find something to do around here, I'm sure." Finished George.  
"Oh, no you don't!" said Hermione, catching on, "I'm staying right here to keep an eye on you!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Again, only one reviewer... I need to type this thing slower!  
  
Erica- Thanks for your support, and I'm glad you like it! Tis a lot easier to write with other people... when you get stuck, you can just hand it off to the next person. And I'll make sure to say hi! *gives Erica a truck load of cookies* 


	6. Regulus Black

DISCLAIMER: I have never owned Harry Potter, nor will I ever.  
  
A/N (4-21): Yes, I finally got the days back in track! Oh well for the other chapters... I'll fix those when I have time. I'm going bowling tonight, so this'll probably be up tomorrow.  
  
A/N (4-22): Yep, it should be up today! *crosses fingers* I'm tired from track, but we don't have practice tomorrow, so I should have a couple more chapters up!  
  
CHAPTER 5: Regulus Black (Anna)  
"All right, all right," said Fred.  
"We can go to the Halloween Feast together," piped up Pettigrew.  
"Yeah, it's only in three days and Moony'll be back by then," said Sirius.  
"Shh..." James hushed Sirius, "His mum's sick remember? He could be away longer..."  
"Who could?" asked a kid who looked about in fourth year, with black hair and a haughty air.  
"Hull, Reggie," said Sirius.  
"Regulus Black, Sirius's little brother," mattered James at James at Harry's questioning look.  
"Who're they?" Regulus asked Sirius, indicating Harry, Ron, Fred, George, and Hermione.  
"That's Harry, a distant cousin of James's, and his friends, Ron, Fred, and George Weasley, and another friend, Hermione Granger."  
Regulus, who had omitted at the name 'Weasley', now asked, "Who're the Grangers? It's not a surname I'm familiar with."  
James muttered, "Lil' Reggie's obsessed with family lines," in Harry's ear.  
"I'm muggle-born, so if you're only following wizarding families, you wouldn't know me, would you?" Hermione said politely.  
"A Mudblood!" hissed Regulus, "Sirius, why're you out there with a Mudblood?"  
James muttered, "He only talks to Sirius, seems to think you're only worth talking to if you're a Black." (Whitney)  
But Harry didn't listen. He was seething with anger, but he didn't say anything. Ron, however, shouted, "What did you call her?!" pulling out his wand and pointing it at him.  
Regulus looked at Ron, "A Mudblood... that's what she is... like you're any better, and a Weasley!" He said menacingly, pulling out his wand as well.  
Sirius stepped between the two. "Reggie, just leave him alone..." He said, but he shot a glance at Ron, telling him to back off as well.  
Regulus lowered his wand and stalked off, his nose pompously stuck up in the air.  
"Don't mind him; he's just into the whole 'pure-blood' thing..." Sirius muttered, looking at the ground.  
Ron lowered his wand, his ears a bright scarlet. (Beth. This is the evil part when she adds R.A.H.I.L. to this entire thing. *scowls*)  
"Well, um, I have to go. I'm meeting Lily Evans in the library so if you need me, I'll be in the library," said Hermione.  
"What happened to following us around?" Fred whispered as Hermione's bushy head bobbled out of sight.  
James looked at Ron like he was seeing him in a new light and whispered something to Sirius. Sirius smiled.  
"What's wrong with you, Ron? You're acting... strange these past few days," asked Harry.  
"Nothing. I'm just not feeling well, that's all." Ron said as his ears turned bright red, "I think I am going to go get some lunch."  
"Well, okay, but come find us if you need something, okay?" Harry said, sounding worried.  
"Okay." Ron replied, walking off.  
When Ron was out of sight, Fred, George, James, and Sirius burst out laughing. Harry looked at Peter and they both looked at each other. "What?"  
"Oh, Harry, don't you see?" Fred asked. "Ron's in love with Hermione!"  
It was Harry's turn to laugh. "Come off it. He would have told me... wouldn't he?" Harry asked. The fact was the more Harry thought about it, it seemed stupid that he had not seen it before. It was in plain sight. "Well, he was upset when Hermione went to the Yule ball with Krum and when she was writing to him last year," Harry said.  
"Upset! More like outraged," replied George, "Hey, here's a crazy idea! Let's get them together!"  
"Yeah, that would be fun!" James agreed, "But where?"  
Just then Harry realized what Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs had been up to last night.  
"How 'bout the Room of Requirement?" suggested Fred. (Anna... Thank goodness!)  
"They do not like each other! Not in that way, I mean!" Harry insisted. "Ron and Hermione have been friends for five years! C'mon, Ron would have asked her out by now!"  
  
"If you say so, mate," said Sirius, grinning.  
"Trust us," said Fred, "We're his brothers, we know him even better than his best friend, and he does like Hermione."  
"Okay, say he does," said Harry, "D'you really think we should get them together? Shouldn't we just let Ron do this on his own?"  
Sirius, James, and Pettigrew were all for it, but Fred and George (for once in their lives) finally decided against mischief that involved their little brother's feelings.  
"Fine," said James disappointedly, "We don't get them together, so what do we do instead?"  
"Yeah, tomorrow's Monday! We have classes!" said Sirius. "We have to do something fun while we can."  
"Hey, why don't we find Snivellus?" asked Pettigrew.  
"Nah, it's getting boring, he's too easy to curse," said Sirius.  
"I know, you guys can tell us the future!" said James.  
This conversation seemed rehearsed in the case that Hermione was not there.  
"'K, whaddya wanna know?" asked George readily.  
"Umm... do you really think we should be telling them?" asked Harry.  
"'Course! What could happen! Anyway, they can tell us about the past as well!" said Fred.  
"Sure we will!" said Sirius.  
Nevertheless, it was with slight uneasiness that Harry joined in the conversation.  
"So, where'd you get the Marauder's map?" James asked.  
"Filch had it in a drawer labeled 'Confiscated and Highly Dangerous,'" said Fred.  
"How'd he get his hands on it?!" asked Sirius, scandalized.  
"Dunno! How'd you come to write it?" asked George excitedly.  
"We explored every single part of the castle!" said Sirius proudly. (Whitney)  
"So, what happens in the future?" James asked. He thought for a second then said, "Hey, do you know if I ever hook up with Evans?"  
Harry stifled a snigger. "Yeah, you do. She's my mum."  
James punched the air in triumph. "YES!" (Anna)  
"Ok, now me!' said Sirius excitedly. "Where do I end up?"  
"Not so good for you, mate," said Fred sympathetically. "Thirteen years in Azkaban for a crime you didn't commit!"  
"You're pulling our legs," said James disappointedly, "Pity, I was getting excited there."  
"No, seriously!" said George, "Sirius goes to Azkaban for killing Pettigrew and betraying Harry's mum and dad..."  
"Now, I know you're putting us on," said Sirius, "Kill Wormtail? No way, and I'd die before betraying my Prongs."  
"Didn't I say already," said Fred exasperatedly, "You were innocent!"  
"I-I die?" squeaked Pettigrew, looking terrified.  
"I told you, he was innocent! You're still alive!" said Fred.  
"If he's still alive, why do people think I murdered him?" asked Sirius.  
"He hid," said Harry quickly. He didn't want to talk about Voldemort...  
"Why?" asked James.  
"You-know-who," said George before Harry could stop him.  
"No, I don't," said Sirius and James together.  
"Good, I was worried I'd forgotten something important again," said Pettigrew.  
"He's gonna find out anyway, couple years from now," said Fred to silence Harry.  
"WHO'S YOU-KNOW-WHO?!" interrupted Sirius and James.  
"Voldemort," said Harry softly. No, I don't want to talk about this, he thought. A little more than a month ago, Voldemort's servant, Bellatrix Lestrange, had murdered Sirius... Sirius was dead...  
"Voldemort," muttered James, thinking, "Voldemort..." he snapped his fingers a few times. "I've heard that name before..."  
"He's that guy who wants to get rid of Muggles and Muggle-borns, somewhere in Romania?" said Sirius, "The one my parents keep talking about..."  
"Some nutter from Romania's after Wormtail? Well, he'll have to get past us, first, right, Padfoot? You and me and Moony..." said James.  
"He's not after Pettigrew, he's..." Harry started then hesitated. He wasn't sure how to tell them that Wormtail would be working for the most evil wizard in the world in a few years time.  
"What's Voldemort doing, then?" asked Sirius.  
Harry drew a breath, prepared to explain...  
"NO YOU DON'T!!!" Hermione stormed up. "I LEAVE FOR TEN MINUTES AND YOU THREE CAN'T EVEN KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT! HARRY, I EXPECTED BETTER OF YOU! I THOUGHT YOU'D AT LEAST UNDERSTAND, BUT NO, I COME BACK AND YOU'RE ALL TALKING ABOUT VOLDEMORT AND FOR ALL I KNOW YOU'VE ALREADY TOLD THEM ALL ABOUT WORMTAIL AND SIRIUS AND HARRY'S DAD AND-"  
"Lily Potter?" James suggested innocently.  
Hermione now exploded and built up a head of steam worthy of Mrs. Weasley, shouting for nearly an hour at all of them, despite Fred and George's attempts to head her off like they did their mother, Sirius and James' amused sniggering, and Harry's attempts to apologize. She only stopped when Ron came up the hall, wanting to know what the shouting was all about.  
Hermione turned to Ron. "D'you know what these idiots have been doing? They've been telling James and Sirius about the future." (Whitney)  
"Cool! Did you tell them about how we saved Siri-"Ron began, but Hermione cut him off.  
"It is NOT cool! THEY COULD RUIN THE FUTURE!" Hermione shot them all a look that could kill as she caught her breath.  
Sirius looked at Hermione. "Geesh, you'd think it was the end of the world..." he muttered to Harry.  
Harry glanced at Hermione apologetically. "Okay! We won't tell them anymore. I'm sorry."  
"You'd better not tell them anymore. You don't know what could happen..." Hermione said, starting to calm down.  
Sirius looked quickly at Hermione, who was facing the other way. He turned to Ron and said, "So, you save me? When?", his voice in a whisper.  
"I HEARD THAT!" Shouted Hermione, turning around, "SEE?! I CAN'T EVEN TURN MY BACK TO YOU AND-"  
"We've got it! I wasn't going to tell him anyway!" said Ron quickly. Hermione blushed, embarrassed and James laughed out loud, unable to keep his laughing down to a snigger. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Tim e for reviews!  
  
Erica- Thanks for the review again! A lot about the way I write has changed since I started roleplaying. Silly Beth, writing in R.A.H.I.L.... Me no likey. Anywho, thanks for your encouragement, once again! Also, if you can figure out who my favorite character is in chapter 4, I'll give you... a Jack Sparrow plushie! You can have a trophy for being my one and only reviewer... 


	7. Déjà Vu

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Harry Potter, I would be working my butt off to get the sixth book out as soon as possible...  
  
A/N (4-22): What to say today... there's absolutely nothing to say. But reviewers get trophies. I've only had two people review... thanks Erica and Megan! *giggles* Ignore any typos... Having a really hard time typing today.  
  
CHAPTER 6: Déjà vu  
  
(Anna)  
They'd gone to bed after that, Hermione fuming, Fred and George sniggering softly, Ron dropping right off, and Harry very hungry because in all he'd missed two meals. He resolved to eat a large breakfast and make sure he had lunch and dinner tomorrow.  
When they woke up the next day, James, Sirius, and Pettigrew were already there. "We wanted to talk to you before class today," they said. Hermione seemed about to say something, but James shushed her. "No, no, not about the future," he said.  
Hermione snorted as if she doubted it very much.  
"No, seriously!" said Sirius, "We're waiting until you leave..."  
"...And then we'll tell them absolutely everything," Fred finished.  
James grinned. "Exactly, mate!"  
Hermione scowled. "Kidding, kidding!" George said quickly.  
Harry was jealous. The twins seemed to be forming a friendship with his father and godfather. It wasn't fair. He hadn't seen his father since he was one- or at least seen his father alive.  
And then there was the inescapable fact that his father and Sirius had so much more in common with Fred and George. They were the Troublemakers-in-Chief in both times, they were a duo of inseparable comrades they were... they were... alike.  
It's not fair, Harry thought again. Then he had an idea. If he was just as much of a troublemaker... They might see him as a friend as well...  
I know just what to do, he thought, I'll sneak into Dumbledore's office... Take something, or mess it up... or... I dunno... something a mischief maker would do.  
"I've got something to do," said Harry, interrupting a conversation he'd been ignoring accidentally.  
"Okay..." said Hermione, "Hurry back."  
Harry left, realizing too late he'd forgotten breakfast again. Oh well, he thought, I'll get some later.  
He ran up the corridors, turning corners and tripping down staircases until he reached the stone gargoyle in front of Dumbledore's office. "Cockroach cluster!" It didn't' open. "Sherbet Lemon... no, Lemon Drop, no, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans! No, Chocolate Frogs! Drooble's Best Blowing Gum! Pumpkin Pasties! Cauldron Cakes! Fizzing Whizbee!" The door opened. "Fizzing Whizbees, gotta remember that..."  
He climbed the steps quietly, tiptoe, tiptoe, until he reached Professor Dumbledore's office. IT looked much the same... whirring silver instruments... pictures of old Heads... the Pensieve, though it was much less full than he had seen it... but no Fawkes.... Well, he can't have always had Fawkes, reasoned Harry.  
Now... what was he going to do... This is wrong, said the part of his brain that spoke with Hermione's voice. It is wrong, what am I doing? Harry thought, I want to get closer to my dad, so I just go after Dumbledore? No.  
Just then he heard something from downstairs. Footsteps were moving up toward him. Harry looked around frantically for a place to hide. There! He closed himself into the cabinet under the Pensieve's desk, which, mercifully, had no window.  
Dumbledore walked in, a bit of red in his beard and hair, and interlaced his fingers, watching a plump girl who sat down opposite him. "Now, Bertha," said Dumbledore, "What as it you wanted to tell me?"  
"It was that Slytherin Chaser, Kyp Duron. He put a hex on me, Professor Dumbledore, and I was only teasing him, sir, I only said I'd seen him kissing Florence behind the green houses last Thursday..."  
"Bertha," said Dumbledore softly, and Harry realized that this was Bertha Jorkins, as he had seen her in the Pensieve a year ago... or was it several years in the future? In fact, this was the very scene he had witnessed with the Pensieve. "Bertha, I'm sure you meant no harm, but can you see how this might have hurt Mr. Duron's feelings...?" (Elizabeth... dang it, she gets Will. *pouts*)  
"Yes, Professor, but he..."  
"Bertha, Bertha, Bertha, calm down. Go get my Pensieve. I need to put some thoughts away until later."  
Oh my God, thought Harry, Now what? How could he get out now?  
"What? Professor, why is James Potter in your cabinet?" Bertha asked.  
"James?"  
"Yes, he's right there next to the Pensieve, but his eyes are different... James, did you do something? Maybe a charm?"  
"Um..." What was he going to do? (Whitney)  
He timidly came out of the cabinet, not daring to look at Dumbledore. (Anna)  
"James, may I ask why you were in my cabinet?"  
Harry didn't say anything, just staring at his shoes.  
"James, please look at me,"  
Harry looked up, but surprisingly, Professor Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling in amusement. Maybe he could get out of this! "I-I was just- coming to see-"Wait, Fawkes isn't here yet! "Uh... that is... Phineas Nigellus... I mean-he's related to Sirius, isn't he-"  
"Yes, he is, isn't he?" said Dumbledore with a small smile. "Surprising that Mr. Black did not come himself."  
"Er... yeah... He was going to-going to..."  
Dumbledore winked. "Go on to class, now, James. It will start in ten minutes."  
"Yeah... I think I will..." Harry said, edging toward the door. He was so relieved that he was not in trouble, he hardly noticed how strange it was that he wasn't in trouble.  
Bertha Jorkins gave him once last, suspicious glance as he slipped through the door. Harry went quickly down the stairs, sprinting once he was in the hall beyond. He didn't stop running until he reached the Room of Requirement. He dashed in, slamming the door behind him.  
James, Sirius, and Pettigrew had gone. Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron sat eating a breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon. When he burst in, all four jumped up. "Harry! What's wrong?!" asked Hermione anxiously.  
"I'm okay," he panted, "I just-sort of- Dumbledore-"  
"Oh, now!" Hermione cried.  
"It's all right! He thought I was my dad-"  
"Well, he could have as easily known it wasn't you! We all have to be more careful!" Hermione said earnestly.  
Harry plopped down and helped himself to bacon. (Necessary Beth)  
"Hey, Harry. Sirius wants us to meet him down by the lake at lunch. What do you think? Should we go?" Ron asked.  
"Yeah, I reckon we should. I'm not sure if they trust us yet," replied Harry.  
"Um, I don't think we should go to the feast tomorrow, because, um, Harry, Dumbledore would recognize you..." Hermione said quietly. She figured that they would want to go. (Whitney)  
"You're right. But I still want to go. We'll just keep out of sight..." Harry wanted to go to the feast, as usual. The Halloween feast was always splendid. The five talked for nearly two hours, discussing what they were going to do. It wasn't until George exclaimed, "Blimey! It's almost lunch!" That they stopped and left the Room of Requirement.  
They found Sirius sitting against a tree, throwing a piece of bread into the lake. It was quickly pulled underneath the water by a long tentacle.  
"There you are! I was wondering if you were even going to show up!" Sirius said jokingly as the menagerie made their way toward him.  
"So, where's James and Pettigrew and Lupin?" Fred asked, plopping down next to Sirius. (Anna)  
"Wormtail's gone to Remedial Transfiguration and James- Dumbledore wanted to see him for something."  
"Oh," said Harry," Er-ah... that was my fault."  
He then proceeded with telling Sirius the entire tale, guiltily looking at the grass beneath his feet the whole time, finishing with "I was being stupid. Dumbledore thought it was James, but Bertha Jorkins- she noticed my eyes were different-"  
"Well, she would be the only one to noticed that, wouldn't she, prying little sneak that she is," said Sirius.  
"But I thought Bertha Jorkins had a really bad memory... isn't that what Bagman said?" asked Fred.  
"Bagman?! Ludo Bagman?! The Hufflepuff Beater? He wouldn't know, he only pays attention to Quidditch anyway! What'd you listen to him for?"  
"Whoa, totally forgot! Bagman went to Hogwarts, too!" said George.  
"So he told you this in the future?"  
"Yeah," said Fred.  
"Fred!" Hermione cut him off.  
"Hey, I just said-"  
"You've just told him Bagman exists in the future!"  
"Oh, like that's-"  
"Weren't you listening this morning? We've got to be careful! You never know what might modify the future!" Hermione said.  
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" said Fred.  
"Only-"said Ron, "I've been thinking- We can't really do any harm, can we? I mean-this is the past! Everything in it has already happened... Hasn't it?"  
"We can't take any chances, Ron," said Hermione.  
"True- this could have already happened- but getting careless is just what won't make it all right."  
"Who says we're being careless?" asked Sirius, "Anyway, can't we talk about something other than the dangers of traveling to the past, we've been over this subject so many times I'm starting to fall asleep every time the word 'past' is mentioned."  
"Like what?" asked Hermione suspiciously, "After all those times, you still want to know about the future?"  
"Why not?" asked James flippantly, flopping down beside Sirius on the grass.  
"Hey, Prongs! So, what's the deal with Dumbledore?" Sirius asked, though Harry felt he already knew.  
"Asking if there's anything interesting in his cupboards? As if I know..."  
"Now why would he ask that, I wonder?" asked Sirius, looking pointedly at Harry.  
James burst out laughing, "I thought so! So, Harry, what is in Dumbledore's cupboards?"  
"Well-you see I- I really didn't look- I was hiding-"  
"Doesn't matter, you figured out how to get in his office! What's the password?" asked James excitedly.  
"Uh... Er... Fizzing Whizbee, but-"  
"Cool!" said James, "Much more interesting and useful news than Bobby O. gave me, anyway."  
"So, what did Robert want?" asked Sirius.  
"Robert T. Orange, the invisible guy?" asked George.  
"That's the one!" confirmed James, "Apparently he's starting a chess club, as if anyone would ever join it-"  
"Chess!" Ron yelped, "A Hogwarts chess club?!" Ron was very good at chess. It was his favorite game. "When- where?! I'll join up, sure I will!"  
"After school in the extra room down Sirra the Strange's corridor...," said James surprisedly, "Hey, you're not really joining up, are you?"  
"Sure I am! Chess is great!" said Ron enthusiastically. (Quartermaster Oblivious... Whitney)  
James raised his eyebrows. "Ok..." He looked at Ron, almost as though he feared for his sanity. (Anna) (Beth)  
"But I don't have a boat. Oh, you mean you're going to give me a boat! Why, thank you very much! I've always wanted a boat." Ron said excitedly.  
"Ron! That was an expression!" said Hermione exasperatedly.  
"I knew that... um... so, when do I get my boat?" (And Back to Whitney!)  
Hermione rolled her eyes.  
"So, are you guys gonna come with me? It'll be fun!" Ron asked enthusiastically. There was silence for a second, then Harry said, "I'll go, mate."  
"I'll go, too. Maybe I can get some more people for S.P.E.W." Hermione added.  
"Not 'spew' again..." Ron muttered.  
"So, what about you guys?" Harry asked, looking at Fred, George, Sirius, and James. (Anna... again. I need to write longer bits, eh?)  
"Sure," said Fred.  
"What?!" Said James.  
"Yeah, if lil' bro's gonna tear some chess champs to shreds-"said George.  
"-As his big brothers we gotta be there, for support," finished Fred.  
"Besides, it's amusing to watch the looks on their faces-"continued George.  
"-'Cause Ron can't loose at chess, unlike Quidditch," Fred teased.  
"Hey! What about that last game?!" protested Ron.  
"Oh, all right," said Sirius resignedly, "I'll go, so long as James comes."  
"Maybe we'll find out what they liked about that crazy game?" said James.  
The bell rang. "Well, its back to class, Prongs," said Sirius.  
"See you in the gallows," James responded.  
"Oh, really," said Hermione exasperatedly as James and Sirius sauntered off back towards the castle. "You'd think it was really horrible, that we were forcing them-"  
They went back to the Room of Requirement. Class had started, so the halls were mercifully empty.  
Hermione, tired of Ron looking at the clock regularly every fifteen seconds, left for the library.  
Harry, desperately searching for something to interest Ron and the others, came up a blank. He could think of nothing Ron would show more interest in than chess... nothing more interesting that chess... Aha! "Ron? Care to play, y'know... A practice game? Only I'm a bit rusty, no one to play chess with on Privet Drive..."  
"Okay!" Harry had known he would lose, but he wished he hadn't lost so badly in this game... Ron's "checkmate!" came sooner than he'd hoped...  
Then Ron played Fred, using his castles to great effect. ("Checkmate!")  
Then Ron beat George, his queen waltzing around the board. ("Checkmate!")  
They played Chess again and again, and when Hermione came back he beat her too... In the end, it was decided that this many wins in a row was a record for Ron, though they hadn't been counting.  
All five of them jumped when the last bell of the day rang, then tried to stop Ron from sprinting to the room opposite the bust of Sirra the Strange, a skinny, point-faced old witch, who, if one believes the bust to be accurate, had worn a large stalk of broccoli on a string around her neck. "Nice of you to wait for us!" was the greet they got from the disheveled trio of Sirius, James, and Peter Pettigrew.  
"Oh, man," said James as they walked in, "I can't believe you dragged me into this, chess is the most-"they went through the door, revealing several long tables with chess sets already set up, and the room's only occupant, Lily Evans. "Wonderful game! I love Chess! Where do we sign up?"  
"Over here," said a voice from thin air.  
"Bobby O.! Great to see you, man! I mean- hear you."  
"Welcome to chess club! I'm glad to hear we have such a fan."  
"Oh, yes, Chess is the best game ever invented," said James loudly. "I can't wait to start playing!"  
"Really?" asked Lily, James's intended audience.  
She was looking at him differently, "Maybe we could start now."  
"Great! Wonderful!"  
"Then who'll I play?" asked Ron disappointedly.  
"You can have Bobby O., mate," said James cheerfully.  
"Good, then two of us'll be having fun," said Sirius darkly.  
"You can watch!" said James enthusiastically, his good mood not broken.  
"We can all watch the game, and study each other's strategies," suggested Robert T. Orange, as if it was obvious.  
"O-kay," said Sirius, reluctantly sitting down by James, who had chosen a board with Quidditch themed pieces.  
When everyone had taken their seats, James said gallantly to Lily, "You can have the first turn!"  
"Thank you," she said, looking at him strangely again. After a moment, she moved one of her chasers (a pawn) two spaces forward.  
James looked hard at his pieces for a long time. "It's... your move..." Lily prompted quietly.  
"Yeah... yeah, I'm just..." He looked frantic, and then finally moved the chaser opposite hers up two spaces, then, uneasy and unsure, asked, "Can I... I mean, Bob is that a good move?"  
"So early in the game, it's hard to tell," said Robert, "Really the only thing that would be 'good' is checkmating the king."  
"Uh... yeah, I knew that." Said James, though Harry thought he was lying.  
At first James mirrored Lily's moves, but one turn, he appeared to be thinking hard, and then his eyes lit up. He moved his seeker (king) ahead two spaces.  
"Hey, that's cheating!" Lily protested.  
"Oops, didn't see that," said James unconvincingly. He appeared to be contemplating a painful choice, then moved his seeker back a space.  
"Good, now I'll move," said Lily. James sighed with relief.  
James's seeker slowly advanced across the board, avoiding by luck rather than skill, Lily's bludgers (castle/rook), until he moved it to a space adjacent to her Snitch. "Can I catch the Snitch now?" he asked. Lily burst out laughing.  
"I... thought... so!" she choked out between fits of hilarity. "You... don't know... how!" she was positively howling with laughter now.  
"Hey, I've never played Chess," James said defensively, "No need to laugh, just make your next move."  
She took his king with her Snitch (Queen). "Checkmate!" she got out before the echoing peals of laughter overtook her again.  
"Now, now, Lily," Robert's voice said from behind Hermione, making hr jump, "Don't make fun, or the chess club will lose one of its few members."  
Harry noticed that they were still the only ones in the room.  
"What kind of game is that, anyway? The Snitch catches the Seeker, the Keeper goes after the Beaters, and the Seeker's the slowest!?"  
"Perhaps you will learn Chess on an ordinary Chess set, and the game will not be so confusing," said Robert kindly.  
"Not until I've played someone!" Ron yelped excitedly.  
"I belive I was to be your opponent?" Robert asked politely.  
"Sure! How about this set?! It's so cool! Look! The castles are on elephant back and... oh, now, they're so detailed..." he said, barely containing his enthusiasum enough to stop from boucing off the walls.  
"Very well," said Robert, "Let us begin! May I have the first move?"  
"Sure, sure!" said Ron. It didn't matter who went first. Ron would tromp him. Robert moved a pawn two spaces. Ron released a castle by doing the same. Robert then made a surprising move. He blocked the pawn with his Queen. Ron groaned. Harry did too, inwardly. He had hoped for an exciting competition between a chess champion and the president of the chess club. But it appeared that Robert T. Orange hadn't the slightest clue was he was doing.  
Ron brought out a knight, Robert responded by bringing a bishop to the middle of the board. Ron's knight positioned itself for a devastating tandem attack of Ron's that Harry recognized- Ron had perfected it playing against him. Then Robert captured one of Ron's pawns.  
"Checkmate," Robert said quietly. It was checkmate. Robert had achieved a checkmate, against Ron, in four moves. (Whitney)  
"What?!" Ron said in disbelief. He checked every single move. Nothing worked. "Wow... well, good game..." he said, still sounding surprised.  
Robert chuckled quietly. "Not a bad game yourself. You're quiet good."  
"Bob knows every single move there is. He's the best." Sirius whispered to Harry.  
The group stayed for a while, playing many games. Fred and George decided to watch rather than play. Harry beat Hermione, though it was a very close game, Sirius, who turned out to be quite good at chess, beat Pettigrew easily, and by the time the group left, James almost understood chess, though he was still confused by the Quidditch set.  
"I still don't understand why the Seeker is the slowest," he commented as they left the room.  
"So, are you going to come to the next meeting? It's next week..." Ron said. Even though he had lost to Robert, he still could go and play other people.  
Sirius frowned. "Oh, I dunno. Chess is so boring..." he yawned, almost as if to prove his point.  
"Chess isn't boring! And you're not too bad, Sirius. Maybe I could play against you next week," Ron said excitedly.  
Sirius grinned at the flattery. "Yeah, I guess so... So when's the next meeting?"  
"One week. Same time, same place," Ron said promptly.  
Harry suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute... how long are we going to stay here?"  
Hermione looked at Fred and George. "What? It's not our decision. I guess we'll go back whenever you want us to."  
"Then we should go back now. We might have already caused problems in the future," Hermione said sternly. Secretly, Harry agreed with her, but Harry didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay... to become better friends with his dad.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Now... time to answer some reviews! I had more than one! YES!  
  
Erica- I'll make sure to write longer bits of the story! And thank you, once again, for your support! You can have 4 cookies. I'm running out, as it were. *giggles*  
  
Orli'sWife-Boyfriend, husband, whatever! Anyways, thanks for reviewing! You can have 4 cookies as well! 


	8. What Floats Your Boat

DISCLAIMER: Nope. I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N (4-23): I really cannot remember the days. Oh well. Er... leave reviews, please? *giggles* Very short chapter, by the way... And Anna wrote all of it. By the way, the part where James changes his mind about Chess... my idea! *waves flag in the air*  
  
CHAPTER 7: What Floats Your Boat (When Ron says it in the 6 chapter... my idea, too!)  
  
(Anna... she wrote the entire chapter)  
  
Everyone was exhausted after their full day, so back at the Room of Requirement they went right to bed, dropping off one by one.  
Harry woke the day before Halloween from a dream in which he had been a chess piece-the result of so much thinking about the game yesterday.  
It was eleven o'clock on a Tuesday, so of course, Sirius, James, and Pettigrew were at their lessons. Hermione was in the library again, searching desperately for some way to go back. Ron, his chess fever increased rather than satisfied by their little tournament, had given up on getting his tousle-haired big brothers to play and was practicing ways to evade Bob's checkmate.  
Harry sat up ("Finally, I was beginning to think you'd died!") ate breakfast ("Think of bagels, the Room'll get you loads of cream cheese, too!"), and got dressed ("Look, Harry, I can get you a Prefects' badge from any house! See, I'm a Hufflepuff who's Ravenclaw Prefect!").  
"Hey, Ron, planning to come back from the world of Chess anytime soon?"  
'Speaking of that, why d'you think your dad didn't like chess, Harry?" asked Ron.  
"Speak of that, you-"Fred chuckled into a hand, "You really didn't mean it about the boat, did you, Ron?" It was clear Fred and George had thought this a great joke.  
"Ah, no, I thought I was being funny- but you really believed I was taking you seriously?!"  
"Could've fooled us, Ron," said Harry, yawning. Up 'til now he'd been too tired to speak.  
They tolerated Ron's chess lectures until about lunch time, when James, Sirius, and Pettigrew turned up. "Hey, Ron," Sirius joked, "We've found your boat!"  
"Really?! Where?" asked Ron.  
"Down at the lake, Gudgeon's gonna do something stupid again. Wanna go watch?"  
"Sure!" said the twins immediately and in unison, so they went. Strolling along the lawn, they spotted Bertha Jorkins.  
"Dumbledore's gonna lock Gudgeon in the cabinet," she told them.  
"Eh?" James looked at her confusedly.  
"Oh, I know you know about Dumbledore's new discipline," she said conspiratorially, "Gudgeon's gonna do something on the lake and Dumbledore's gonna lock him in the cabinet. It's a good thing I'm not bad," she continued thoughtfully," 'Cause I don't think I'd fit in his drawers!"  
She sauntered off. "Whew!" sighed Harry, coming out from behind Ron, "I was sure she'd notice two Jameses and go straight to Dumbledore."  
"Well, that counts us out of Gudgeon's little show. If she knows, you can bet every teacher in the school knows. We're not getting caught there."  
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Pettigrew.  
"Talk about the future," said Sirius promptly.  
"Uh-uh, no way!" said Fred.  
For once in his life, George didn't appear to share his twin's thoughts, staring dumb-foundedly at him like the rest of them.  
"We wanna know more about the past!" he announced.  
"Aaaah," George grinned, catching on and relieve that their empathy had only been interrupted by a bit.  
"You can learn the past from history books, "James said waving his hand dismissively.  
"Y'know, we can..." said George.  
"But not actual thing," Harry protested, "Just things like goblin rebellions, not like... y'know... real stuff..." he hesitated, trying to figure out how to get his point across.  
"Harry's right, you can't learn actual things, like the funny little stories parents and grandparents tell... History's got no feelings, no heart," said Fred with emphasis.  
"Oh, you just think that 'cause Binns is our teacher, history's really fascinating," said Hermione, "If you'd just read the book instead of finding out everything from Binns..."  
"Yeah, remember someday the fight between the Order and Voldemort will be history, too," said George.  
"What about the fight between the Order and Voldemort?" said Sirius quickly.  
"Uh-uh, past first," said Fred.  
"Oh, why can't we tell them about the future? You're not scared, are you?" said George.  
"No, I'm not scared, but you're stupid...as stupid as Ron!" Fred bit back angrily.  
James and Sirius watched the developing quarrel with interest, Pettigrew looked like he hoped it would come to blows.  
Ron was now looking at Fred in shock. The twins had teased him before, but they'd never been flat out contempt, as was Fred seemed to be now. George put a hand on Ron's shoulder. "Thanks, Fred, Ron's pretty smart, unlike you."  
"Now, I'm sure Fred didn't mean that, so let's just-"Hermione seemed to be trying to salvage the situation.  
"Fine," said Fred, "Fine, side with Ron, I knew you would. C'mon, Harry," and without waiting for an answer he pulled Harry away by the arm.  
Harry was so startled by the twins' fight that at first he didn't react, allowing himself to be pulled along for a few yards before planting his feet in the grass and refusing to budge.  
"What?" asked Fred irritably.  
"Ron's not stupid," Harry insisted.  
"What are you talking about, 'course he is, all that boat nonsense-"  
"He says he was joking around and I believe him," said Harry firmly.  
"He just said that so he wouldn't look like an idiot-"  
"He's my friend and I'll believe what he tells me. So, Fred, if doing this to your little brother floats your boat, there's nothing I can do to stop you, but don't' expect me to act this way to my best mate," he said coldly.  
"Right..." said Fred, "Right... well, I don't need you! Any of you! From now on, Fred Weasley goes solo!"  
We'll talk to him," explained James before he, Sirius, and Pettigrew hurried after him. Harry caught something about "Can't really mean you'll go solo," before the four boys disappeared from sight.  
  
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Well, seeing as I typed this right after the first one, and no one is expecting this chapter to be up, there are no reviews to answer! I shall just put here that this part isn't my favorite... poor George... poor Ron... Fred is being stupid, so who cares about him. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I'll probably answer reviews on Sunday because I'm having a friend over on Saturday. I'm hoping to get Chapter 8 up tonight as well... Chapter 9 isn't finished! Now you'll have to wait for chapters to be put up...*cackles* 


	9. Troublemakers, Inc

DISCLAIMER: Do I even have to put this up anymore? I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N (4-23): It's nearly midnight here, but I want to get this chapter up tonight! Ah yes, and I've had a lot of fun typing this... we write little notes on the side of the paper... Anna says 'Chess Rox!' and I totally agree... And Beth says that Thialfi must be really mad at Anna now because she called him a second year about 4 times. *giggles* we're so odd...  
  
CHAPTER 8: Troublemakers, Inc.  
  
(Er... Anna wrote all of this, too... We've been working on James Potter and the (insert title here). We haven't thought of a name yet... if you think of a spiffy name, let me know!)  
  
Harry, Ron, Hermione, and George spent the rest of the day in the Room of Requirement. George- Harry was having trouble thinking of just George. Fred and George had always been inseparable, like one person, but now- George seemed less eager to joke around. Fred didn't turn up for bed, and it was Hermione's guess that he must be sleeping in the Gryffindor dormitory. She also thought (she'd voiced this thought out of George' shearing range) that because they had bee so alike, they had reacted worse than usual to a small difference in opinion. It was a long time before Harry could get to sleep, but even so, he heard George's snores not at all.  
On Halloween morning, Harry didn't remember the fight until he saw Fred's bed empty, and George on the one next to it, hands under his head, staring at the ceiling, tears in his eyes.  
No one else was awake. Harry went over to sit on Fred's bed. "George..." he said softly, "You all right?" George nodded but a tear leaked out of his eye to run down his cheek sideways, finally falling on the pillow. "Were you up al night?" George nodded again. Then, taking a deep breath, said: "I didn't mean all that stuff about Fred."  
"I know. I don't think he meant it about you or Ron, either,"  
"We gotta tell Fred that. He prob'ly feels real bad right now." Harry nodded, unsure if he was supposed to say anything.  
"Y'know, Harry, I've never slept without Fred... we were always together and now..." he bit his lip to keep from crying.  
"We'll tell Fred today," said Harry with certainty, "Even if we can't find him 'til then, he's gotta be at the Halloween feast, hasn't he?"  
George nodded, then managed a small smile, "Thanks, Harry."  
He'd managed to wipe all the tears away before Ron, groaning, sat up. He looked around to see who was awake. "Where's Fred?" he asked sleepily.  
George looked about ready to cry again so Harry whispered to Ron about yesterday, but Ron cut him off, remembering everything now that he was fully awake.  
Hermione wasn't surprised by Fred's empty bed. Harry wondered if she ever forgot anything.  
They were eating breakfast when there was a polik little rat-tat on the door. Harry went to open it. It was Remus Lupin. He was looking ill and considerably thinner than the day they had come, courtesy of the Magic Lamp, to the past. "No," he muttered as Harry was about to let him come in, "George shouldn't hear this, come out here and I'll tell you." Harry slipped out, closing the door behind him.  
"Alright, I'll start at the beginning," said Remus, "I came back about five in the morning, and Fred was on my bed, sitting and sobbing to himself. I asked him what was wrong and he told me he and George had fought, and he wanted to make up but he wasn't sure if George wanted to."  
"Good, well, George wants to also, so we can just tell the both of them-"  
"It's not that simple," said Remus, cutting him off, "We all got to talking and Fred said what he'd always wanted was to join Aids to Magical Mischief Makers, and then James said, 'Sure, but we'll be the Mischief Makers now!' so we've formed Troublemakers, Inc. and Fred just won't believe George hasn't got it in for him since yesterday, and they're going to play a trick at the Halloween Feast but haven't decided what yet. As far as we got was it won't be a trick on just George, it'll be a trick on everyone, 'Cause it'll be funnier and we don't want to draw attention to you, or people will notice you don't belong there and starting looking for more of you." Remus finished, quite out of breath.  
Harry thanked him and managed to tell Ron and Hermione about it without George hearing. "Well, they're more alike than they think." Hermione commented.  
Harry's anxiety about the trick at the feast was growing, and reached its climax as they were about to enter the Great Hall for the feast, George excited that he was finally going to talk to Fred and this would all be behind them.  
Harry looked for a sign of the prank. The chairs looked all right, and the table- the floor and the ceiling- what was going to happen? Then he groaned. The food. It had to be the food. Fred knew how to do whatever they did to it, and Harry was sure James would have absolutely no qualms about playing a dirty trick with the food.  
The problem was, everyone was eating. George, who hadn't been warned, had already shoveled down some Yorkshire pudding and was starting on the chicken.  
Harry's eyes searched the Gryffindor table. He looked for, and found, a head of flaming-red hair. With a sinking feeling, he saw that neither Fred, nor Sirius, nor Peter Pettigrew, nor Remus Lupin, nor his father was eating. They sat back, plates empty, watching and, it seemed to Harry, waiting for something to happen.  
"Well," said Ron in Harry's ear, "Nothing seems to have happened, has it? Maybe they couldn't think of one in time-"  
"No-"Harry mumbled back, "It's the food, I'm sure of it."  
"Look!" hissed Hermione, pointing at a Hufflepuff.  
The boy's hair was standing on end. A few seats from him a girl sprouted antlers. All over the Great Hall, people were getting various afflictions, from huge, bloated noses to striped skin. They boy across from Ron suddenly began to glow like a light bulb.  
George looked around confusedly. "What's going on?"  
"It's Fred, Sirius, Harry's dad, Lupin, and Pettigrew," said Ron.  
George laughed, "Ohohoho, that's funny, I suppose he put a different thing in each food, to get a nice variety of effects, but I don't seem to be affect- unnh- my stomach..." he grimaced with pain.  
Harry watched in horror as George turned a bright, fluorescent green. "Mumph..." he moaned. "Mmm..." clutching his stomach, he slowly got up. "Dowww... mmm... obuk-"Despite his agony, George jumped in surprise and must have been rewarded with an extra large dose of abdominal pain because he fell to the ground, moaning- or tried to. "Buuuuk bkaaw-bukbuk!" He was making chicken noises instead of talking!  
"Buuuk-buuuk-"If a chicken could groan, Harry supposed that was the sound it would make. "Buuuk-"  
"C'mon," said Ron, and he and Harry hoisted George up. They had no trouble getting out without being noticed. Pandemonium reigned in the Great Hall.  
Passing the last girl, who was vomiting huge, vile purple bubbles, they left the Great Hall, pulling George along with them.  
Somehow they got to the Room of Requirement, and lifted George into his bed. The Room provided an antidote, which George managed to get down. George was in tears again tonight, but these were tears of anger, humiliation, and vengeance.  
  
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No reviews yet... *yawns* Well, I should get to bed. I have to clean so my friend can come over! And Anna, surprisingly, couldn't spell fluorescent! It's amazing! I've found a word she can't spell! Well, I hope you like the next chapter... revenge in planned! *cackles* 


	10. Eye of the Beholder

DISCLAIMER: As much as I want to, I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N 6-13: Yes, yes, I know... I haven't updated forever. I'm terribly sorry, but Anna took the folder on her trip to New York or wherever she went. Erm, as for reviews, I don't know if I have any or if I've answered them in my other stories... shrugs Ah well. On with the story! Holy crap! I've got twenty pages to type! This is going to take a while...  
  
Chapter 10: Eye of the Beholder  
  
(Anna)  
  
Moaning Myrtle had never been happier in her miserable life (or death). She whistled around the bathroom, fixing her hair as best a ghost can, and day dreaming about her tall, strong, redheaded knight-in-shining- armor. Fred Weasley... Fred Weasley... the nicest boy she'd ever met, and he'd asked her out! Maybe she was wrong thinking no one cared... maybe-just maybe...  
When the last bell of the day rang, she floated up, up, up to the Gryffindor common room. One good thing about being dead- walls can't block ghosts.  
There were no Gryffindors there- they were all limited by their physical forms and it would take a while to get back. Oh, well, she had waited almost fifty years for her prince charming- she could wait ten more minutes.  
Then she heard a soft thump from upstairs- in the boys' dormitory. That was where her beloved slept. She decided to check it out. She floated straight up, ignoring the spiral staircase, and arrived in the boys' dormitory through the wood floor. Imagine her surprise when she discovered that Fred Weasley had got there before her! He must have, or else why would be there, bouncing a ball off the wall and looking very bored. "Padfoot? That you?" he asked.  
"No, sweetie, it's Myrtle!" she said with a musical lilt.  
"Who?"  
"Oh, you're so funny, Fred, baby, you know who I am!" she giggled.  
"No, sorry, I've never met a Myrtle. I don't think-"  
"It's not funny anymore, cutie-pie."  
"What's not funny?"  
"Fred, really..."  
"How do you know my name?"  
"You told me!"  
"When?"  
"This morning! You asked me out!"  
"No I didn't-"  
"Oh, I get it now, Fred, baby, a funny little joke on Myrtle. I suppose all your friends will get a good laugh- but I'm not staying! I'm not giving you the satisfaction! Goodbye!" and with that, she dived into the floor, wailing all the way back to her toilet.  
"Sorry! I didn't mean to offend you-"Fred called to empty air. He let out a breath of frustration and leaned back against the headboard. Listening hard in the quiet, he heard a muffled sound, like someone was calling. HE wandered down into the common room. He could hear it much better here.  
"Fred! Fred... Let me in, Fred!" called the muffled voice. It was coming from the portrait hole. He peeked out slowly. Hermione was standing outside the portrait hole. "About time!"  
"Figured out they're idiots, have you? Good, we need all the smart people we can have in Troublemakers, Inc. and you could have a sleeping bag in the girls' dormitory. I don't think Lily would mind-"  
"Fred, that's not why I'm here."  
"Well, then, why are you?"  
"Can I come in?"  
"Sure," Hermione sat on one of the squashy chairs by the fire before telling.  
"Well, I really have two things, but I'd better talk about George's prank first-"  
"What, am I going to slip on a banana? Oh, the horror!"  
"He's going to send a ghost called Moaning Myrtle. He's asked her out and told her he's you, and whatever you do, be nice to her, because-"  
"Fat lot of good being nice did me. She just goes off crying her eyes out-"  
"Oh, dear, the poor thing, she's quite sensitive, you know..."  
There was a silence. "So, what's the other thing?"  
"Well, I was just thinking, it's stupid just to keep getting back at each other, and you and George are the best of friends-"  
"What, me and that git? No way!"  
"Oh, Fred, stop denying it. I know you two miss each other-"  
"Did George send you?"  
"Well, no, but-"  
"Then I don't want any part of this. You can tell George from me that if he wants to be friends, he can get down here himself and apologize"  
"I most certainly will not! Don't you think this has gone on long enough? Why don't you and George just get together and-"  
"He's got to apologize first!"  
"You both need to apologize!"  
"What've I done?!"  
"Hm... let's think. A cruel prank at Halloween-"  
"For fun!"  
"SAYING RON'S STUPID, RUNNING OUT ON US, BUT DO YOU CARE? NO, YOU NEVER CARED ABOUT OTHERS' FEELINGS. I SUPPOSE YOU THINK IT'S FUNNY YOU HURT YOUR BROTHERS' FEELINGS AND I'M JUST SICK OF IT, DO YOU HEAR, SICK! AND I-"  
"Yes, yes, we do hear- Ow, Hermione, we're not deaf, y'know..." James had sauntered in.  
"Hmph!" Hermione flounced off, nose in the air.  
"Yeesh, bro, what's with that chick?"  
"Shut up! And don't call me that! Only Charlie and Bill and Percy and Ron and George can-"he waved a hand in frustration and ran off, out the portrait hole, off towards who-knows-where. He didn't care. He stopped running. He didn't care. That's what Hermione said. That he didn't care about others' feelings. Well, he'd show h ere- he'd go say sorry to Myrtle, then George- no, not George. George hated him, and so did Ron, and Hermione and Harry too, now, judging from Hermione's yelling and Harry's coldness after he'd made fun of Ron...  
He heard the wailing far down the corridor from Myrtle's bathroom. He knew where it was from the Marauder's Map. He'd always wondered why the dot labeled Myrtle Ophelia was always in the girl's bathroom, and know he knew- she must haunt it.  
Ignoring the Out of Order sign, he slipped through the door. He quickly found the stall where the wailing seemed the loudest. Opening it, he knelt beside the toilet and called, "Myrtle- Myrtle- won't you come out?"  
He heard sobbing from below. "W-why?! C-come to have a good gloat? WAAAAH!!"  
"No, no, Myrtle, I've come to explain- and apologize."  
At this Myrtle slowly rose, peeking out of the toilet-bowl. "Oh, it's you," she said contemptuously.  
"Yeah- listen, Myrtle, Just- hear me out, okay?" he took a deep breath. "I didn't recognize you earlier because- because I've never seen you before in my life!"  
"Y-yes you have, you liar, you asked me out this morning!"  
"No- no I didn't. That was my brother, George."  
"And he just happens to look ex-actly like you!?"  
"Well- yes, we're identical twins."  
'Y'mean like Jill and Jane?"  
"I don't know them."  
"They were identical twins. They'd always switch around in their classes so they could do their favorites twice."  
"Oh. Well, my twin, George, was playing a trick on me, so he asked you out, making you think I was him."  
"That was mean!"  
"Yeah, but he wasn't after you he was just-"hang on a second. Why am I defending him?  
"It was mean to you too. It sounds like some of the cruel tricks my classmates played on me. Your brother must be horrible!"  
"Yeah- yeah," said Fred, unsure he believed it. His earlier rage was gone. He didn't hate George now. "Hey, listen, Myrtle, I've gotta go, but if there's any way I can make this up to you- anything at all..."  
"Sure, I'll tell you- cutie pie!" she giggled, diving back down into the toilet.  
Well- at least that went well, Fred thought.  
  
(Whitney)  
  
He ducked back out of Myrtle's bathroom and headed toward the Room of Requirement. He suddenly stopped. What was he going to say?  
  
(Yeesh, that was short... anyways, Anna!)  
  
Nothing, he decided. Nothing and no one was going to make him come to George...  
  
Hehe, I decided to use the pretty little line now. No more messing with stars and those curvy things... That's it! giggles I don't remember if I had any reviews, so I'll just say I didn't. That always works... 


	11. Nothing and No One

DISCLAIMER: This part is just depressing now... I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N 6-13: It's the same day! Yay! dances I have nothing better to do... no one's on to RP and the RP boards are dead. I'm bored... and hungry. I should get some lunch, I should...  
  
Chapter 11: Nothing and No One  
  
(Big surprise... Anna)  
  
Harry woke the next day to find Ron playing chess with himself and George and Hermione absent. "Great, now I can have an opponent!" Ron said excitedly.  
"Er- no, I'm hungry," he announced, still tired of chess.  
"After-"said Ron hopefully.  
"Sure," said Harry, resolving to lose quickly. He was saved from a trip to chess-world, however, by Hermione's abrupt return and excited face- the same expression she'd had on numerous occasions on which a bright idea occurred to her. "I know how to get back!" she cried. "I know! I know! I just need to check something with Fred and George first-"  
"Fred's off doing his own thing, remember, Hermione?" Ron drawled, pushing his chair back on two legs, "Anyway, back to where?"  
"When, Ron, back to when!" Hermione said.  
"What?! You can get us back to the future?!"  
  
(giggles Yes, she can get you back to the future... all you need is a DeLorean and the Flux Capacitor. Heh, I probably spelled that wrong... anyway, let's get back to the story!)  
  
"I think so, I just needed to check something, like I said-"  
"Well, let's get going then! 1995, here we come!"  
  
(Er... I apologize if the year is wrong. I don't really know...)  
  
They searched everywhere for George, but they couldn't find him anywhere. Finally giving up, they headed back to the Room of Requirement.  
Walking down the hall toward the ballet-troll tapestry, they suddenly heard a noise that made them jump.  
"Well," remarked Ron, "We've found them." They headed toward the sound of a voice (The amusing thing about it was that Fred and George's voices were as identical as their freckles, so it sounded as if a person with multiple personalities was having a particulary loud argument.), or voices yelling incomprehensibly.  
Coming around the corner, they caught, "WELL , THAT SUITS ME FINE 'CAUSE I HATE YOU TOO, SO YOU GO BACK TO ICKLE RONNIKINS," a voice that was probably Fred's sneered, "AND BE A GOOD BOY LIKE MUMMY SAYS, AND I'LL GO BACK TO MY NEW FRIENDS, TROUBLEMAKERS, INC!" With that there was a series of stomping footsteps and a slamming door.  
"GOOD RIDDANCE!" called George after him as Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked up. "Can you believe him?" George complained to them. "Good boy, hmph!"  
"George! Hermione thinks she can get us back!" Harry said, unable to hold in his excitement any longer.  
"Yes! Great! Let's go!" George cried.  
"Wait, I need to ask you something-"  
"Fire away," said George.  
"How exactly does the Magic Lamp work?"  
"I don't know, exactly," he said uncomfortably.  
"You said you did! Back at Harry's house, George, you said you'd found the spell from experimentation and-"  
"Well, yes, that's true, er... We got the spell from experimentation with Mundungus to see if we could pick up anything interesting on the black market..."  
"Oh, dear, George, you and Fred really are the limit."  
"Don't talk about him to me!"  
"Okay, fine, but you two will have to make up sometime!"  
"No, we don't unless he apologizes-"  
"Alright! All right! I'm sorry I asked." Hermione sighed in frustration. "You must know something about the lamp, though!"  
"Well, Mundungus said it would negate enchantments, get past them, y'know... What are you getting at?"  
"I was so stupid not to see it before! We'll go back the way we came!" she said, smiling.  
"Uh... Hermione..." Ron said, "We'd have to wait the whole school year... wouldn't that- y'know- change the past or something?"  
"Oh, no, there are other magically shielded places, and the one I'm talking about will be in France two days from now to ten days from now... the preparations of the Quidditch World Cup!" she said excitedly, waving a newspaper clipping with the title, "World Cup to be played North of Marseilles."  
"Uh, two problems Hermione," said Harry. "One, how do we know we'll go to our own time, and not further into the past, and two, if we do get back, it'll be in France."  
"Is that all? Well, the second one's simplest. We'll get back to Harry's house the same way we go to Franc- by portkey. The first one, well, when I got my time-turner, naturally-"  
"Time-turner?" asked George interestedly. He didn't know about Hermione's hectic third year.  
"Never mind about that," she said impatiently. "Aturally, I was very interested in the time-turner and time travel in general, so I checked out a few library books on the subject-"  
"What, like a hundred?" said Ron.  
She shot him a glance to shut him up. "A few books on the subject, and it is fascinating, really, you ought to-"  
"Later, Hermione, please," said Harry, "How d'you think it'll work?"  
"Well, it's much more complicated, but the simplified form is we're connected to our own time."  
"Eh?" said the three boys confusedly.  
"It's like radioactive materials becoming stable, the time tries to become stable too-"  
  
(Whitney)  
  
Ron and George stared blankly at Hermione. "...Radioactive?"  
Hermione opened her mouth to start explaining what radioactive material was when Harry cut her off.  
  
(Anna)  
  
"Hermione, don't bother explaining cause you know we're not as smart as you, we aren't gonna understand," said Harry.  
"Oh, this is simple, really, when you-"  
"Hermione, we aren't after a lecture in time travel. We just want to get back," said Ron.  
"Okay, so, the plan is, two days from now, we turn the lamp into a portkey and go to the Quidditch World Cup," said George, "Sounds good to me."  
"Wait, aren't you forgetting something?" said Hermione.  
"Oh, c'mon Hermione, we told you we don't get all this stuff on time travel-"said Harry.  
"It's not about time travel, it's about Fred," she said.  
"What about that idiot?" asked George.  
"He's got to come with us," said Hermione.  
"No, he doesn't. We can leave the git here, it's what he'd do to us," George said.  
"Now, you know he wouldn't-"  
"Yes, he would," said the boys.  
"No he wouldn't, and we are taking him with us or not going at all! We can't leave him, it will seriously alter the time line-"  
"Again with the timeline!" said George frustratedly.  
"Can't you just-"Harry stopped, waiting for George to finish his sentence.  
"But you're each others' best friends! Ron, you're his brother, too, even if George is unreasonable, you've gotta want Fred back! We can't just strand him here!"  
"Guess you're right. I'll go talk to him," said Ron resignedly.  
"Ron, you don't have to mess with that git-"started George.  
"Yes, I do, 'cause he's my brother. I'd do the same for you or Charlie or Bill or Ginny- or even Percy, 'cause we're family, so we have to look out for each other..."  
  
(AHHH! THE CLICHES! giggles Sorry, I had to say it. Anna put as a side comment, "Yeesh, I'm being corny! But corn is good, so..." BACK TO THE STORY!!!)  
  
"'Spare me the sermon, okay, Ron?" said George.  
"Well..." said Ron, "Anyway, I'm going to talk to Fred."  
"You do that," said George, "But don't blame me when he's too stubborn to admit he's wrong."  
"He shares that trait with his twin," said Hermione, but George ignored her.  
It wasn't ten minutes before Ron came back fuming. "He won't listen. Even when I said we could go back he just said no. He wants George to talk to him. Says George's too stubborn to admit he's wrong."  
"See," said Hermione, "You two are more alike than you think."  
"We are not alike. Just 'cause we're twins doesn't mean we're exactly the same!"  
Harry, who had always sort of thought of Fred and George as one entity, said, "Prove it."  
"All right, I will. I'll go talk to Fred," as he walked off down the hall, the three couldn't resist a silent cheer.  
"That went well," said Hermione once she was sure George was out of earshot," Y'know, I'm thinking one of Fred and George's differences is George is more reasonable-"  
'Reasonable?! Harry here only got him to go by challenging him to prove something! He's not going 'cause he wants to make up with Fred, whatever you may think, Hermione. He's going to widen the rift by proving they're different, that's all," said Ron.  
It seemed Ron was right, because George came back with an outraged lok on his face.  
"You know what that git did?! He's made up with Myrtle! He felt sorry for her! He's supposed to be disgusted, but no, I found her as happy as a duck in the rain, and I tricked her into thinking I was him, and she told me the whole story-"  
"Oh, George, you're not gonna let that stop you from making up with Fred, are you?" asked Hermione, "It's a silly thing, really."  
"Who said anything about making up with that idiot?"  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione groaned.  
With George off making plans for his next trick on Fred, they were left wondering how to bring the two together. All through the rest of the day they sat, thinking. As Hermione had said, leaving Fred in this time was out of the question, as he could alter the time line seriously.  
"'S too bad we can't just kidnap him," Ron said.  
"Why not?" said Harry. Ron thought about it.  
"Yeah... why not?" he said.  
"I'll tell you why, "said Hermione. "A portkey might not move him if he's unconscious. Also," she said, interrupting Harry's protests that Cedric certainly hadn't been conscious. "Also, if we get caught, we could alter the time line even more than we have already. No," she said to Ron's protest of if they got caught, "It's like Lupin said, we can't draw attention to ourselves..."  
There was a knock on the door. Ron opened it a crack to peek out, then, seeing their visitors, let the two boys wordlessly in.  
Fred and George stood together in the doorway. Everyone stared at them, bewildered. "Um," Hermione finally asked, "What's going on?"  
"We've decided it's not profitable to prolong our quarrel," said one.  
"There are better and more interesting uses of our time than fighting," said the other.  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared, stunned, their mouths hanging open. "O-kay," said Ron at last, "Whatever floats your boat..."  
The hall rang with laughter of Fred and George, inseparable once more.  
  
dances in circles I forgot what I was going to tell you! You can see some comments from some of our loyal fans. (Alright, so it's Anna's sister. But who cares?) "If I didn't know you, I'd say J.K. Rowling wrote this," Katie's comment at page 15. Now she's on page 26 and she says... stuff that doesn't pertain to the story. (Stuff that's about the notes on the margins... I need to just type them up sometime. They're really odd...) Page 38- "What if they really mess up the future?" Don't worry Katie... we won't let them do that... looks around As far as you know. On chapter "What Floats Your Boat", "I think Ron should get a boat!" Umm... I can't find anymore. We started to run out of room, so we kind of erased parts of old conversations. giggles 


	12. Hermione's Plan

DISCLAIMER: Nope. Don't own 'em.  
  
A/N 6-13: Ya know, I wouldn't be typing this if Robyn was on... I'm still bored... and hungry. I really do need to step away from the computer and get some food.  
  
Chapter 12: Hermione's Plan  
  
(Anna)  
  
Fred and George decided to celebrate their coming-back-together and making-up and such with a private showing (Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the only audience) of a cute little show with finger puppets, courtesy of the Room of Requirement.  
The show had some familiar faces acting a little... messed up. The curtain rose on Harry and Ron talking about Hogwarts. Harry suggested bothering Snape, and Ron agreed with a high-pitched "Right-o!" and from then until the end of the show, and for several hours thereafter, it was as if the entire room had been subjected to a giggler Hex. Dumbledore danced and sang, Voldemort took over Hogwarts, Ron frolicked among butterflies, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione hugged Snape in what Harry and Ron quickly agreed was the funniest thing they'd seen in a long while.  
For the rest of the evening, they messed around and laughed about the show, and planned what they'd do once they got back in two days...  
Harry awoke from a dream with Sirius and James as finger puppets to find them chatting with everyone else- Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Lupin, and Pettigrew. Telling them about the puppet show, now, Ron was doing a comic imitation of the little Harry. "Bother, bother, bother..."  
"Ah, Harry," said Remus, "you're awake. Heard you all have to leave, sorry, mate, we'll miss you..."  
Harry hadn't considered that there might be people sorry that he'd leave...  
"Yeah, you'll leave on Tuesday, so this Sunday's the only day we'll have to spend with you before you leave- so we have to spend the entire day together!" said Sirius.  
"Harry, you can come to Quidditch practice with me," said James. "It's twelve-thirty! I'm sure the guys would love to have you if I said you were my cousin-"  
"And we can go to chess club at 3:30!" Ron jumped up in excitement. "I can try my new strategies on Bob!"  
"Great, mate," said Sirius, flashing a thumbs up. "And 'til then-"  
"-can we watch that puppet show?" James finished, grinning.  
The puppet show was even funnier the second time around, with James and Sirius's commentary. They had breakfast together around ten, laughing through the pancakes and syrup, Ron capping it all off by spitting orange juice out at a particularly amusing comment by James. Harry felt so- comfortable, so- at home, here, and he had to remind himself that he was sitting across from his father, not some friend he'd made at Hogwarts. He felt as comfortable with Sirius and James and Pettigrew and Lupin and Remus as with Ron or Hermione... Going back, where two were dead and one was a servant of Voldemort- he barely identified the four laughing faces with the adults in his own time.  
But time flies like the wind (and as Remus's joke went, fruit flies like bananas), and before any of them knew it, the clock read 12:30, and Harry and James were heading down to the Quidditch pitch.  
The Gryffindor team consisted of a burly, tanned captain (Enlil) the other two chasers, Turner, brown haired and starting to get a moustache, and Green, a tall boy with longish blonde hair and a strange accent, the keeper, another tall blonde, was a girl, Katie Buhman (Harry thought it a brilliant coincidence that Katie Bell was a Gryffindor Quidditch player in his time), and the beaters, two third years called Pat and Matt Dooley.  
  
(Beth... sighs We always have to write sisters and brothers in... the curly blonde, Michaela, is Beth's sister and Pat and Matt are Beth's brothers, though they aren't really that close... and Katie Buhman is Anna's sister. I need to write Cheyenne in here... giggles)  
  
"No, we aren't twins. We're two days apart," said Pat, looking at Harry's face.  
"You're right, James, he looks like you," said Matt.  
"Okay team, let's go!" Enlil, the team captain said. "Harry, you can go against James on a school broomstick, okay?"  
Harry got a choice of an old Cleansweep 2 or a Silver Star 180. He picked the Silver Star. He felt the wonderful sensation of flying as soon as he got on the broom.  
"Get ready for the time of your life, 'cause I'm gonna win."  
"I don't think so," said Harry as he bolted after the Snitch, hovering two inches off the ground. James was by in a second flat. He sped every closwer then-  
"I got it."  
"No, I got it!"  
Harry and James were on the ground wrestling for the Snitch. Both boys were laughing so hard that they didn't even seen Lily. When James had calmed down he said, "What's up, Evans?"  
"What did you do to Snape?" she asked in a steely voice.  
"Nothing."  
"Whatever! He has mushrooms sprouting out of his nose, he's covered in goo, and along with his slimeball hair he has tentacles growing out of his head!"  
"Cool!" said Harry.  
"No, it is not! What did you do to him!"  
"Nothing, my dear Evans."  
"Don't you 'My dear Evans' me, Potter! I know you did something."  
Just then Hermione came running out, "You will not believe what Sirius, Lupin, Peter, Fred, George, and Ron just did to Snape!" she cried.  
"They did that!? When I get a hold of them..." Lily mumbled as she marched off the Quidditch pitch.  
"Why'd they do that?" Harry asked.  
"He called Peter and I Mudbloods."  
"He didn't!" said Katie in horror.  
"I guess since we are making no progress, we'll just call it a night," shouted Enlil to the team.  
"Now that they're gone... I have a plan," said Hermione as the team went back to the locker room. "Harry, I found a way back... Well, at least to communicate with Dumbledore so he can get us back. We need a piece of his hair, though," she said quickly and quietly. "So we're going to need your help, James... and Sirius, Lupin and Peter."  
"Right, but what can we do?"  
"Well, while one of you gets his hair, the others can distract him," said Hermione.  
"When?"  
"Tomorrow."  
"Alright."  
"Now let's go to chess club," said Hermione. When they reached the room near the bust of Sirra the Strange, everyone was there. Ron and Robert were playing a game of chess, Hermione and Lily were watching very closely while the rest waiting in the corner for Harry and James.  
"Checkmate! I won!" yelled Ron. "I beat Robert!"  
"Great going, mate!" said Harry.  
"Splendid!" added Fred.  
"Cool!" said Sirius, grinning. "Bloody brilliant..."  
  
(Whitney)  
  
"You played well. I'm privileged to have had an opponent such as you," said Robert quietly.  
"Thanks. It was great playing against you too, mate," said Ron, still grinning from ear to ear.  
  
sighs Silly ff.net... it won't fix my chapters! It's getting really annoying. Perhaps it'll fix itself if I put this chapter up... I don't know. 


	13. Quidditch World Cup 1976

Disclaimer: Shouldn't be writing this, yadda yadda yadda…

A/N 1/9/05- This is Whitney's sister. I'm regret to inform you that Whitney, Anna, and Beth fell off of the edge of the earth while searching for Middle-Earth.

Just kidding!

I'm sorry that I haven't updated in so long… I didn't have much time for writing during summer and the first part of school because of softball, but now I've got plenty of time as I'm not playing basketball… Yeah, that started a while ago but Beth and Anna had all three of the stories for some reason… anywho, I've got a _lot_ to type, so I'm going to just shut up now. But I've got to say one thing… I've written this entire chapter by myself. It's not much, but I can say that I wrote it.

A/N 1/18/05- Holy monkey, this is taking a LOT longer than I expected… Beth and Anna are about ready to kill me because I've had the story for a while now. And I've realized that there are a few things in here that weren't in the actual books (i.e. the buffet in the private box) but I honestly don't care, so we're sticking with it.

A/N 1/19/05- If you can guess what show I got the idea for dryads from, I'll… erm… give you something from the show.

Chapter 13: The Quidditch World Cup 1976

The group stayed awake well into the night. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter all ended up falling asleep in the Room of Requirement with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred and George and were somewhat startled to awaken with ten minutes before class started. After a quick change of robs and some breakfast (compliments of the Room of Requirement), they said hasty good byes. Harry watched them leave, a weight seemingly dropping in the pit of his stomach. He wanted more than anything to tell James not to trust Peter, to tell Peter not to join Voldemort, but Hermione's watchful eye stopped him from doing so. So it was with a heavy heart that Harry watched his future father, god father, teacher, and enemy sprint down the corridors, knowing he'd really only be able to see one of them when he returned to the future, for he didn't particularly want to see Wormtail again.

After they were out of sight, Harry stepped back into the Room, looking at Ron and Hermione with an odd expression on his face. Hermione opened her mouth and then closed it abruptly, seemingly at a loss for worlds.

Ron sighed, knowing what Harry was thinking. "Look on the bright side, mate- you got to see your dad and Sirius again," he said reassuringly.

Harry from slightly, still feeling upset about not telling them about the future. "I guess," he replied rather sardonically.

Ron frowned as well. "Well, if you want to sulk about things out of your control, then fine. I guess you can just sit around and wait for us after the Quidditch World Cup."

Harry's face- full of mixed emotions- lit up. "You mean we get to watch?" he asked excitedly in spite of himself. Only Quidditch could raise his spirits like this, even in such circumstances at this.

Hermione grinned, having found her voice once more. "Well, with a little help from the Room, we'll be able to go and have some extra spending money. It's Uganda against England and from what I read in 'Quidditch throughout the Ages', it was a great game. And if I remember correctly, it lasted a couple of hours, but they had problems with getting wizards and witches out without muggles noticing, so we'll have a little more time if we have problems with the portkey. Of course, we'll arrive by floo powder so we can watch the game, because if we used a portkey, it might send us back before we want it to. Like I said before, time tries to become stable-"

Harry put his hand up to stop Hermione. "We already got the space-time continuum speech, remember? And I don't need the full details; I just want to know when we're leaving."

Fred and George (both of whom have been very quiet all morning) put on their identical grins. "Well, we figured we could leave after lunch. That way we can see Sirius and James one last time," began George.

"- because those hasty goodbyes were definitely not good enough," finished Fred.

Harry's face broke into a large smile. "Awesome!" And with that to look forward, the day was much more enjoyable.

The group spent most of the couple hours they had preparing. Hermione had bewitched her bag so it could hold a lot more without the extra weight. Harry was handing Hermione the last of the omnioculars (Ron had insisted), when he gasped suddenly, making Hermione jump. "What is it, Harry?" she asked worriedly.

"It's nearly lunch time! C'mon, let's go!" Harry quickly jumped out of his chair and headed toward the door.

"Chill out, Harry… You'll get to see them soon enough," Ron said exasperatedly as he shoved the spilled contents of the magical bag back in. "'Sides, don't you think we're just as excited to see them as you are?"

Harry looked at Ron, his yes saying it all.

"Sorry…" Ron muttered, closing the bag and setting it on the table.

"It's alright," Harry said, waving the matter away with his hand, as if it were some annoying fly. "But can we _please_ go now?" Fred and George chimed in with yeah's and what-he-said's.

Looking around, Hermione shrugged. "What/" I never said we had to wait. I fact, I was waiting for all of _you_."

After that bit of 'discussion' they left for the Great Hall. People were just arriving so they waited for a moment before entering, hoping it would fill up a bit more.

When they entered, Harry spotted James right away. At the moment, he was impersonating one of his lesser favorite teachers.

"'…Mr. Potter, how many times have I told you not to-' Hey, Harry!" James shouted, spotting his future son. "I thought you were leaving."

Sirius, Remus, and Peter all turned around and waved at the small menagerie, motioning them over. "Have a seat…"

"Good to see you, mate!"

"Feels like I haven't talked to you in a long time…"

Harry sat next to Sirius, Ron on his other side. Hermione was across from him, next to James and Fred and George were already chatting away with Peter and Remus.

"So I thought you guys were going back to the future," James said, grabbing a sandwich off of a large plate in front of him.

"We're leaving just after this." Harry picked up a sandwich for himself and took a bit. Once he'd swallowed he continued. "We're going to the Quidditch World Cup by floo powder, and then we're going to take a portkey back home."

James' hand stopped half way to his mouth, dropping his sandwich in the process. "You mean you get to go to the Quidditch World Cup in France, Uganda versus England?! No fair! I don't even get to go! My parents wouldn't let me out of school for it. You guys are so lucky!"

Sirius, Remus, and Peter let out exclamations of "What?!" and "Cool!" and "Wicked!" when they were told.

Once everyone had calmed down they spent the rest of their time debating who would win (Fred, George, and Hermione all kept quiet, seeing as they already knew who was going to win.), discussing school Quidditch, Quidditch in general, and by the end of lunch, they were almost sick of the word 'Quidditch'… _Almost_.

Remus suddenly jumped, startling everyone in the group. "We've gotta go! Class starts in two minutes!" he said hurriedly, standing up. True enough, there were very few left in the Great Hall and most of the teachers had disappeared as well.

James looked disappointed, as did Sirius. "Aw, c'mon Moony… Just this once… It's not like we haven't skipped class before," he said pleadingly.

Remus frowned. "But we're learning about the Patronus Charm today in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

James thought for a moment. "Oh, alright… Well, see ya, Harry… everyone." He would've stayed, had it been any other class… Well, maybe not Transfigurations. McGonagall would kill him… but Defense was his favorite class.

The rest of the four friends quickly said goodbye and sprinted to their next class. Harry watched his future teacher, enemy, god father and father disappear around the corner once more. "Well, let's go then!" he said, not wanting to dwell on the fact that only two were alive in the future…

Once the five had reached the Room of Requirement and had shut the door behind them, they sat down, thinking of a fireplace and floo powder. In an instant, a cozy fireplace appeared and next to it was a bowl full of floo powder. One by one they tossed their handful of powder, stating their destination and disappearing in a swirl of green flames.

Hermione stepped out of the fireplace last, shaking soot from her bushy hair and patting it out of her clothes (they had changed back into their original clothes). "Well, let's go and find our seats now," she said, walking forward.

As the rest hastily complied, they looked around. It appeared that they were in some sort of center for arrivals by floo powder. Hermione led the group (mainly because she was the only one that actually knew what she was doing) to some large gold doors. A man dressed in a nice black suit stopped them before they could go through and said something to them in French. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, and then suddenly started to dig through her bag. "Oui," she said, nodding as she handed five tickets to the man. "Ah… you are from England? Why didn't you say so? I would 'ave spoken English with you."

"It's alright," Hermione said, taking the tickets back. "Could you point out where our seats are located?"

The man nodded. "Zey are over zis way," he said, pointing to his left.

"Merci beacoup," Hermione said, leading them around again.

"I didn't know you spoke French, Hermione," Ron stated once they were away from the man.

Hermione shrugged. "I was fascinated with the language when we vacationed in France a couple of years ago. You know, you should really check out this book-" she was stopped by Ron.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it… Learn French, read a book…" he muttered.

Hermione just rolled her eyes and continued to walk, glancing at the tickets now and then. As they did so, Harry watched the groups of people around him. There was a group of American girls singing a painfully out of key song… Something to do with a Fernando, he thought… They passed a rather large group of teenagers that were all chatting away in what Harry thought to be German…When it seemed they were never going to find their seats, Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, causing the rest to stop. Ron was spacing off and walked straight into Harry, causing him to topple over and create a domino effect. Soon everyone was on the ground, laughing. All but Hermione.

"Alright, which one of you thought about a private box?" she demanded, standing up and brushing dirt off her clothes.

A chorus of "No, not me!" was soon heard, but Ron was extremely quiet.

"Ron! You do remember the whole discussion about not messing up the past…" Hermione said exasperatedly.

"Sorry! I couldn't help it… You can't stop yourself from wanting good seats…" Ron threw his hands up defensively, backing away as though she were about to attack him. "Besides, there's nothing we can do about it now!"

Hermione just sighed and handed the tickets to the ticket-taker. He eyed them suspiciously and muttered something, though it was too low to make out.

Ron, Harry, Fred and George all rushed past Hermione and up the stone spiral staircase to their own private box. "Brilliant!" George exclaimed, looking around. The entire place was adorned with purple and gold velvet and large, plush chairs. The entire front wall was open, though some sort of magical barrier stopped you from falling out.

"This is amazing!" Harry said as he started on their private buffet.

Hermione couldn't help but feel excited about the game, with the fancy seats and just the overall feeling of excitement in the air- it was contagious.

Ron grinned. "See, Hermione? It wouldn't have been nearly as much fun in the general admission seats; you can't see a thing from there. But here, here we can see everything!" He grabbed a licorice wand from the table and plopped into one of the comfy chairs, taking a large bite as he did so.

"Whatever. If we get caught, it's your fault," Hermione said as she flipped through a velvet program, marking a page with a tassel.

"Aw, lighten up, Hermione," Harry said, looking at the program with curiosity. "So, what time does the game start?"

"In half an hour the mascot show starts. It's going to be really neat. Uganda has fwoopers and England-" Hermione started brightly, but her speech on fwoopers was cut short.

"Hermione! This is QUIDDITCH, not a meeting for the society of fwoopers," Ron said, shaking his head sadly. "I thought I'd gotten through to you…"

Hermione frowned. "Hey, just because I said something about fwoopers doesn't mean-"

Harry suddenly burst out laughing, causing all else to look at him worriedly.

"You alright, Harry?" George asked.

"You just… I don't know," Harry said once he'd gotten a hold of himself.

"Well, that was odd," Fred said with a chuckle.

Harry opened his mouth to say something when he was suddenly shushed. Looking confused, he turned around to see what was happening. An announcer was in the middle of saying something, the start of his welcome unheard.

"…and now, the team mascots!" the voice boomed, echoing in many different languages. "Uganda's team mascot is the fwooper!"

From one end of the enormous pitch, bright and vivid plumage was visible- oranges, pinks, limes and yellows in a large group of birds. They flapped their wings, gliding through the pitch and singing.

Harry watched the birds curiously for a moment, but soon he was walking over to the food table and dumping a bowl over his head.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, bringing Harry back to earth. "Fwooper songs cause insanity," she said, answering his unasked question.

Ron was currently trying to eat his shoe, proving Hermione's fact. Harry laughed and prodded Ron in the arm, making his freckle-faced friend jump and spit his foot out of his mouth. "Who? Wha?"

Fred and George were still sitting in their chairs and laughing. "You two… What, does it only affect 16 year old boys?" George asked through chuckles.

"Yeah, really!" Fred agreed.

"Hey, what's that?" Harry said, pointing to the pitch and trying to draw attention away from the fact that he'd just dumped a bowl of licorice wands on his head.

"Wow, dryads!" breathed Hermione in awe.

"Dry-whatsits?" said Ron, clearly confused.

"Dryads! Honestly, don't you read?" Hermione rolled her eyes and continued. "Dryads are creatures, sort of like merpeople in a sense because they can speak… though no one can decipher their language yet. They originally came from Edinburgh… here, just watch."

Harry stepped closer to the large window, watching with interest. From the opposite side of the pitch very strange creatures were appearing. They were short, humanoid creatures that looked like they're come out of the pages of a muggle fairy-tale- pale skin, hair that looked like purple bramble and bushes, and their eyes each a different shade of violet. They fluttered over to their side of the pitch, their iridescent wings sparkling in the sun.

"Who _cares_?! I want the match to start!" groaned Ron.

"And now, may I present to you, England!" echoed the loud voice throughout the stadium once more.

"_Thank you!_" Ron practically shouted, sighing with relief.

"McCormack, Jones, Miller, Cooper, Skylark, Knight, aaaaaaaand Plumpton!"

The seven starters for England flew out, clad in royal blue robes. They sped around the stadium, the emblem of 'Silver Arrow' on their brooms barely visible.

"And here's Uganda!" the voice boomed again. "Musajakawa, Rwabugini, Singhal, Kutakulimuki, Erza, Lwanga, aaaaaaand Wambukawo!"

Harry shifted his gaze to the canary yellow robed African country, watching them as they too sped around the pitch.

"This should be an interesting match. Four of the seven starters for England are women! Let's see what these girls can do!" the voice announced once more. "The referee will review the rules, and they're about to start!"

The referee, a lanky man with stringy blonde hair, was standing in the middle of the players, who were currently shaking hands. When they were all back in place, they mounted their brooms. The referee tossed the quaffle high into the air and everyone pushed off the ground. "And Cooper of England has the quaffle!

Harry Ron, Hermione, Fred and George all watched in awe. Though Silver Arrows were a considerable amount slower than Firebolts, it was still like Quidditch as they'd never seen it. The chasers weaved in and out of the other players, tossing the quaffles back and forth…

"…And now Skylark has it! She shoots for the right hoop and-" The crowd roared and booed as the Ugandan keeper caught it tossing it to another teammate. "And a well-placed whack of the bludger from Jones nearly takes out the opposing keeper. Gwenog Jones is the youngest on the England team and she's paired with the second youngest on the team, the tiny powerhouse… Kelsey Miller!"

"Wow…" Fred said, standing up. "Watch those two! They _are_ amazing! Better than us, and that's saying something."

George winked. "Yes, it is. But Jones and Miller… just… wow." There really wasn't a word to describe it, the entire game even. It was just awesome, as many Americans of the 90's would say.

The game had been going for nearly two hours and the sun was low in the sky. The moon was visible in the clear blue sky, though it was hard to see between the constantly moving players.

"And Uganda has the quaffle!" The teams were zooming around at top speeds. The seekers could be seen high above the crowds, above all of the zigzagging of chasers, beaters, keepers, bludgers and the quaffle. "And they're attempting the Woollongong Shimmy with the quaffle in their possession! Aaaaand- ouch!"

"What's happening?" Ron asked, standing on his toes as if it would help him see through the players.

"Just listen!" Hermione sighed.

"Chaser for England, Knight, is accused of blagging, aaand… yes! That's a penalty in favor of Uganda." The crowd became unnaturally quiet, as if they were all holding their breath. Harry was no different. "Aaaaand… Oh! McCormack misses the quaffle by a hair! The score now stands Uganda 50, England 40."

England started to fly over toward the other goal, quaffle in hand, but Harry wasn't watching that. The seekers were racing toward the England goal… toward a small speck of gold…

"And the seekers are… They've spotted the snitch! It looks like they're going to run into McCormack!" And they did. The three all collided with a loud, sickening crack sound. "Ouch! The mediwizards are out on the field..." Wizards and witches suddenly appeared on the field, slowing the players as they fell to the ground. Another wizard summoned the brooms so they wouldn't fly away.

"It seems McCormack has a broken arm, an easy fix, but what about the seekers? What's this? I can't believe it!" Plumpton was sitting on the ground, a slightly dazed look on his face as he held up a struggling golden snitch. "Plumpton has caught the snitch! England wins! The final score, England 190, Uganda 50."

The crowd cheering on all sides of them, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George all applauded.

"Wow! That was awesome!" exclaimed Ron.

"Yeah, did you see-" Fred began, but Hermione cut in.

"We need to go, or we'll miss our chance."

"Oh yeah…" said Harry vacantly. He'd forgotten all about that…

Wow! I'm finally done! It's amazing…

**violingirl7- **Thanks for the review! And I'm just sticking what my friends and I agreed with, putting the author every couple of lines, even if it is a little annoying. But I always love new reviewers. Thanks again! (Even though you've probably forgotten about this story…)

**meggumscat- **Silly Megan… Oi, why haven't you been writing? I loved your story…

That's all my reviewers. -points- I _did_ update, Erica!


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